


No Safe Place

by KatyBaker



Category: Blue Bloods (TV)
Genre: Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-08-31 01:27:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8557879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatyBaker/pseuds/KatyBaker
Summary: After Eddie is sexually assaulted and beaten, Jamie makes it his mission to track down the man responsible and get justice for his partner while trying to keep her from falling apart. SOME SEXUAL CONTENT AND LANGUAGE.





	1. Attacked

**CHAPTER ONE**  
  
            Two days. It had been two days since Jamie had heard from Eddie. She had banged in sick two days in a row, and the knot in Jamie’s stomach was getting bigger by the second.  
  
Something was wrong. He knew it.  
  
He called her on and off all day on the first day, and the second it was more frequent. He had left probably thirty voicemails. But now, Jamie was done waiting around. He had to make sure she was okay, and he would break into her apartment if he had to.  
  
The last time she hadn’t answered her phone and had banged in sick, Eddie had opened her apartment door to him and her face was covered in nasty bruises and bloody cuts. That bastard Jake Singer had tried to rape her, but Eddie had fought back. He silently prayed as he grabbed his keys and ran out to his car that this wouldn’t be a situation as bad as that one was.  
  
For the past few weeks, whenever Jamie and Eddie worked together, Eddie had seemed distant and withdrawn. Whenever Jamie tried to push, Eddie waved him off and gave him an “I’m okay” smile that convinced absolutely nobody.  
  
The drive to Eddie’s apartment felt like it took an hour, but in reality it only added up to less than half of that. Jamie’s heart pounded as he walked the hallway, and it was beating faster the closer he got to her door. The feeling that something was wrong was with him every single step of the way.  
  
Jamie took a deep breath before raising his fist and knocking lightly on the door, hoping if she was asleep that he wouldn’t scare her to death. He heard nothing, so he knocked again, louder this time. The knot in his stomach now felt like a boulder, and his heart pounded painfully against his ribcage. He put his ear to the door, and that was when he heard it.  
  
Whimpering.  
  
That was it. “Eddie!” Jamie yelled, prepared to shove the door open if she didn’t answer. “Eddie, it’s me. Open up!” But she didn’t open up, and the whimpering got louder. That was all the reason he needed. Jamie swiftly shoved his body into the door, and it opened easily.  
  
Eddie’s apartment was pitch dark, and it took Jamie’s eyes a minute to adjust, but when they did, what he saw turned his blood to ice in his veins. Eddie was laying on the couch, half naked, staring straight ahead, her face drenched in tears and bruises and vicious lacerations. There were bruises and cuts all over her legs and arms, and her hair was matted with something he didn’t want to identify. It didn’t even _look_ like Eddie.  
  
And she wasn’t looking at him. The whimpering had stopped, and she was staring at the wall in front of her, her normally sparkling eyes now wild and haunted. When Jamie finally spoke, it sounded like a bullet in the silence that filled Eddie’s apartment. “Eddie? What happened?” He approached her slowly, his hands up, not wanting to alarm her.  
  
_Something awful had happened_. The look on her face as he got closer chilled him to the bone.  
  
Eddie said nothing, and Jamie finally got close enough to get down on his knees in front of her. Without thinking, he put his hand on her leg, and she jumped a mile with a whimper. He could tell from the look on her face that she’d been through pure hell, and he was determined to find out what had happened.  
  
“Okay, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” Jamie said, rubbing his hands gently up and down her bruised legs. “Eddie, I need you to tell me what happened.”  
  
And just like that, Eddie Janko fell apart in front of him. Her face crumpled and tears came pouring out of her eyes, and she shook her head frantically. Whatever happened had torn her apart, and the thought ignited a rage in him that he hadn’t felt since Jake Singer. He wanted to know what had happened, but at the same time, he didn’t.  
  
“I’m going to sit beside you, okay?” Jamie stated, and Eddie said nothing once again. She just continued to cry, and Jamie gently dropped down on the couch beside her, scooting enough to the other end that she didn’t feel trapped. Eddie’s face was buried in between her knees now, and her body shook with her cries. Jamie rubbed her back softly, and she didn’t flinch away.  
  
They sat there like that for a bit, with Eddie crying her eyes out and Jamie rubbing her back and whispering to her. Jamie slowly scooted closer, and wrapped one arm around her back as her crying slowed to a whimper, and eventually to nothing at all.  
  
“Eddie, who did this to you?” Jamie asked as silence surrounded them again. He grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around Eddie’s shoulders, trying to make her feel less exposed. “Who hurt you?”  
  
Eddie tried to take a deep breath before she finally spoke, and just breathing made her whimper. Jamie jumped and put his hand on her back again. “What hurts?”  
  
“Ribs,” Eddie muttered, and her voice was hoarse. She sounded like she’d been screaming for hours, and the thought made Jamie sick. “He tried to kill me.”  
  
_He tried to kill me_. The words bounced around in Jamie’s head and a lump formed in his throat. “Who, Eddie? Who tried to kill you?” he asked her quietly but insistently.  
  
“He’ll _kill_ me if I say anything. I’m so sorry,” Eddie said tearfully, shaking her head.  
  
She unexpectedly dropped her head to Jamie’s shoulder, and Jamie put his hand on her head and stroked her hair. “I won’t let him hurt you again, but I _need_ you to tell me who it is, Eddie. Please. I want to help you.”  
  
Eddie chin quivered, but she finally gave him what he wanted. Her answer was quiet, but it was there. “His name was Brian. I met him after tour Wednesday night.”  
  
“Did he…” Jamie couldn’t even say the word _rape_. But Eddie knew what he meant, and when her face crumped again and her head dropped, he knew. Eddie had been raped, and Jamie had never wanted to kill anybody so badly. Not even Jake Singer.  
  
“Eddie, I’m so sorry,” was all Jamie could say.  
  
Eddie shook with sobs again, and Jamie gently pulled her into his side. Eventually, the crying stopped again, and Eddie was beginning to doze off in his arms. He knew then it was time to act. “I’m so tired,” Eddie muttered, her eyes half-mast.  
  
Jamie stroked her hair and wrapped the blanket tighter around her. “I know you are, but I need you to get dressed. I’m taking you to the hospital.”  
  
His statement immediately elicited a “No!” and a whimper from Eddie, and Jamie’s hands went to her face, stroking her cheeks gently with his thumbs.  
  
“Eddie, hey. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. I promise,” Jamie assured her. “I _need_ you to get dressed. I’m taking you to the hospital to get you checked out and have them perform a rape kit.”  
  
Eddie shook her head violently as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I can’t.”  
  
“Yes, you can,” Jamie said, stroking her hair. That’s when he felt it. There was a bump on the back of Eddie’s head so big that he wondered why he hadn’t felt it before now. “I’ll be with you the whole time. I’m not going anywhere. Okay?”  
  
“It’s not too late?” Eddie asked brokenly, but there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes.  
  
Jamie shook his head and stood up off the couch. “No, it’s not. They can recover evidence up to 72 hours after… the attack.” _The rape._ Jamie still couldn’t say it. “I’m assuming it happened Wednesday night?”  
  
Eddie merely nodded and said, “And into Thursday morning.”  
  
Once again, Jamie couldn’t speak. He could picture her in her apartment, naked and beaten and bruised, all alone and crying, and it made him sick.  
  
“Let’s just get this over with,” Eddie said, looking down at the floor as Jamie helped her up off the couch.  
  
Jamie watched his partner carefully. She took four steps, and he was holding onto her elbow for every one of them. He followed her to her bedroom and held her arm to help her keep her balance as she slipped into her sweats. She yanked a t-shirt over her head, but not before Jamie caught sight of the bright red lashes all over her back. She looked like she’d been tortured. He pushed the thought away for now.  
  
Eddie pulled a jacket over her shoulders, flinching from pain as she did so, and she bent over to pull on her shoes when a wave of dizziness hit her, unlike anything she’d ever felt.  
  
Everything went black, and Jamie caught her before she hit the ground.


	2. Awake

CHAPTER TWO

EDDIE

The first things Eddie noticed as she awoke were the excruciating pain in her head, the smell of disinfectant, the unfamiliar feeling of another hand holding hers, and the horrible, stabbing pain that resulted from her trying to take a deep breath.

She lifted her heavy eyelids, and immediately she knew she was in a hospital room, and that hand that was holding hers belonged to Jamie. He was sitting in a chair beside her bed, asleep. Even in sleep, he looked rigid, his face pinched with worry. She squeezed his hand as hard as she could, wanting him to wake up and explain what had happened and to comfort her. She had absolutely no idea which hospital she was in or what had happened or what day it was.

Her mind felt completely blank.

Jamie did wake up, almost immediately. The concern in his eyes almost made her cry. He pulled his chair up closer to her bed, and he instantaneously saw the panic and confusion that was written all over her face. “Hey, it’s okay,” he assured her, even though both of them knew it was definitely not okay. “You’re okay.”

He silently stroked Eddie’s fingers as she took everything in. Her head was killing her, and she reached up to find a huge bandage wrapped all around her forehead. It hurt her so badly to breathe that she knew her ribs were broken. There were bruises and lacerations all over her legs and arms, and that alone made her sick to her stomach. And there was an ache in her pelvis and stomach that she couldn’t ignore.

“What happened?” she asked Jamie tearfully. She had never felt so lost and confused in her entire life. No matter how bad it was, she needed to know what had happened. At all costs. She remembered Brian and him being at her apartment. But that was all. Everything else was a huge void, a black hole.

All she knew was something awful had happened.

Jamie, fighting the urge to reach up and wipe her tears, said, “I went to your apartment yesterday to check on you since you’d banged in sick two days in a row. I was worried. When I got there, you were half naked, sitting on your couch, crying. You wouldn’t say anything to me at first, but when you finally did talk, you eventually said ‘he tried to kill me’.”

Jamie paused for a moment, letting her take all of that in before he continued. Eddie was feeling so many emotions that it was difficult to identify them all. She felt heartbreak, confusion, a little bit of happiness because she was alive, but mainly, she felt pure fear.

Eddie nodded, signaling that Jamie could go on. “I finally got a name out of you. Brian. You said you’d met him after tour on Wednesday.” Jamie took a deep breath and looked down at the floor as he spoke. “I asked you if he had… if he had sexually assaulted you, and I got the impression that he had. I’m so sorry, Eddie.” He ran a hand over his face, looking as distraught as Eddie did.

Eddie knew that she had been sexually assaulted. That was the one thing she hadn’t forgotten, as much as she wished she had. But she knew she had to come clean with Jamie about one thing. “Jamie, I lied. I didn’t just meet Brian after tour Wednesday. He—”

Eddie was cut off as a tall brunette woman in a lab coat entered the room, looking Eddie over. “Eddie, you’re awake. I’m Dr. Coleman. How do you feel?” the doctor asked, and Eddie looked at Jamie apologetically, exchanging a look that promised she’d finish her story later.

Eddie shrugged, slightly irate at the interruption. Truthfully, she didn’t know how she felt. “I feel okay, I guess,” she answered, staring down at the floor.

“Well, Eddie, you were very lucky,” the doctor said, pulling a stool over next to Eddie’s bed and plopping herself down, staring at a paper on a clipboard in her hands.

Eddie let out a humorless laugh, shaking her head. “I don’t feel very lucky,” she commented, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

Dr. Coleman just smiled, showing her ridiculously perfect teeth. Eddie got the feeling that the doctor didn’t really find what she said amusing. “You came away alive from what was certainly a vicious attack,” Dr. Coleman said, crossing her legs and giving Eddie the once-over.

No shit, Eddie thought, trying with every ounce of her being not to say it out loud. “How did I even get here?” Eddie asked, realizing that she had no idea how she wound up here, in whatever hospital she was in. Yet another thing that she couldn’t piece together.

“Well, your friend here,” the doctor motioned to Jamie, “was going to take you to the hospital himself, but then you passed out at your apartment, so he called 911. He did the right thing.”

Eddie squeezed Jamie’s hand and gave him a grateful smile. He gave her a breathtaking smile back and looked down at their hands.

“Did he fill you in on the injuries you suffered?” the doctor asked, interrupting the moment they were having, earning an irritated stare from Eddie.

In response, Eddie shook her head a little too quickly, apparently, resulting in a sharp pain radiating from the top of her head to the base of her skull. The doctor continued anyway, despite the worried look from Jamie. “You have one of the most severe concussions I’ve ever seen in all my years, which is why you’ll have to be very closely monitored when you’re released.” The doctor eyed Jamie as she said this. “You have nine broken ribs, a massive gash on your head, and…” The doctor trailed off, and the look on her face told Eddie what was coming.

“I was raped, I know,” Eddie filled in, the words sounding foreign and strange as they left her lips. “When will the rape kit be performed?” Eddie looked over at Jamie. His face was ashen, and he looked like he was about to throw up, which in turn made her want to throw up.

Even Dr. Coleman looked a bit uncomfortable. “Here in a couple of hours if you’re up for it.”

Eddie just nodded, chewing the skin on her lips, her eyes filled with tears. Jamie was thankful when Dr. Coleman said nothing else and, instead, rose from her stool and jotted down some numbers from the monitor next to Eddie’s bed.

“When will she be able to go home?” Jamie asked just as Dr. Coleman was about to leave the room.

“We’re keeping her overnight and if nothing else comes up, if there aren’t any complications, she can go home tomorrow night.” The doctor gave Eddie a nod and a smile. “Press the call button if you need anything. The nurses will be back to give you more pain meds at 3:00.” And with that, the doctor left the room, leaving Jamie and Eddie alone.

The two were silent for a few moments before Eddie spoke, a look of confusion on her face. “What time is it? How long have I been here? I don’t even…” Eddie trailed off, her voice bordering on hysterical.

Jamie checked his watch. “It’s 2:15pm on Saturday. You’ve been here since Friday night.” He took a deep breath, leaning forward and putting his hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “I promise you, Eddie, you’re going to be okay.”

Eddie gave him another grateful smile and went quiet again for a few minutes, calming down as the seconds passed. This time, it was Jamie that broke the silence. “What were you saying earlier when the doctor interrupted?”

Eddie pulled her hand from Jamie’s and began picking at her nails, a nervous habit. “I lied. Brian isn’t somebody I just met after tour Wednesday. He’s an ex of mine, one that I wanted to stay far, far away from.” She looked up at Jamie, expecting to see an expression of anger on his face and instead seeing one of concern. “He found me, though. I don’t know how, but he did.”

“Eddie, look at me,” Jamie said, finally getting her to meet his eyes. Hers were full of fear. “He’ll never hurt you again. I promise you that.”

Eddie nodded with tear-filled eyes, thinking deep down that Jamie may be no match for Brian if he ever came back.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A nurse whose nametag read TARA came in and gave Eddie more pain medicine through her IV a little after 3:00. For the next hour and a half, Eddie watched Jamie pace back and forth, and if he wasn’t pacing, he was looking at her as though she just might fall apart before his eyes.

The nurse named Tara came when the clock on the wall said 4:32pm, and Eddie knew it was time. Tara helped her into the wheelchair she’d brought to the room and had her sign the consent form for the rape kit. Jamie asked if she wanted him to go with her, and as much as she did, she shook her head no. She didn’t want him there for what she was sure would be the most humiliating experience of her entire life.

Jamie nodded and gave her a gentle smile as Tara wheeled her to the door. “I’ll be right here when you get back.” Eddie gave him a weak smile in return and Tara closed the door behind them.

Eddie was right in her assumption that this process would be the most humiliating experience of her life. What she couldn’t possibly have prepared herself for was the excruciating pain. They swabbed her in all the places he had touched at some point Wednesday night, and she felt like she was on fire. They collected urine, blood, and hair samples, the clothes Eddie had been wearing, and fingernail scrapings. They took pictures of all of her bruising and lacerations, including the deep gashes on Eddie’s back where Brian had hit her with something she couldn’t identify.

The testing felt like it drug on for days, and when Eddie finally got back up to her room at around 7:30pm, Jamie was there, just like he said he would be. He was sitting beside her bed but his chair was turned sideways and looking out the window at the rain, only coming out of his daze when he heard the door to her room open and close.

Jamie turned and assessed her as she climbed back into bed, his eyes worried. “Hey. You alright?” he asked, even though he knew she most definitely was not alright.

Eddie shrugged, wincing a little as she settled herself underneath the scratchy blanket. “It hurt. A lot,” she said truthfully, picking at her nails and refusing to meet his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Eddie,” Jamie said with a shake of his head. She stole a sideways glance at him, and he was looking down at the floor. He looked ashamed, as if any of this was his fault.

“What the hell do you have to be sorry for?” Eddie asked, fiddling with her IV tubing as she spoke.

Jamie was quiet for a moment, thinking. “I’m just sorry that any of this ever happened to you. That he happened to you. You haven’t told me anything else about him, and you don’t have to if you don’t want to. But if you ever do, if you need to talk about anything, I’m here.” He reached forward and put his hand on Eddie’s arm, and she could have sworn she saw moisture in his blue eyes.

“Thank you,” she said as she reached up and squeezed Jamie’s hand as hard as she could. She knew that if any of the bosses came in and saw them like that, they would no longer be partners, but it didn’t make Eddie let go of Jamie’s hand.

They just sat like that for a minute, Jamie’s hand on Eddie’s shoulder, Eddie’s hand on top of his.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

JAMIE

Tara came back to give Eddie more pain medicine at 8:00pm, and she was out cold shortly after. Jamie just sat there, listening to the rain and watching Eddie sleep, her face troubled even then. He sat like that for an hour or so before deciding to take a minute to go get some coffee, go to the restroom and call Danny.

He stepped out into the hallway, leaving Eddie’s door open a bit so if she woke up she would know he’d just stepped out for a minute. After he got coffee from the machine down the hall, he dialed Danny’s number, wanting to know when him and Baez would be back to talk to Eddie. They had come to talk to her right after she’d been admitted, and Jamie had told them she wasn’t up for talking yet, which was the truth. She’d been a complete and utter wreck and, truthfully, so had Jamie.

“Jamie?” Danny answered, sounding out of breath. “How’s Eddie?”

“She’s okay,” Jamie said, taking a seat out in the hallway. “They just did the rape kit and she’s sleeping now. When will you guys be back to talk to her?”

“Whenever she’s up for it. We need to get a jump on this guy. When will she be allowed to go home?”

“They said that if there are no complications, she can go home tomorrow maybe. Either way, she’s got a long road ahead of her, that’s for sure.” And I’m going to be there for her through it all, Jamie thought, although he wouldn’t dare say that to Danny, who knew that he looked at her as far more than just a partner at work.

Danny sighed on the other end of the line. “Alright. Baez and I will be there to talk to her tomorrow so she has time to rest tonight.”

Jamie thanked Danny and they hung up. After finishing his coffee and going to the bathroom, Jamie returned to Eddie’s room, expecting to see her still sound asleep. Instead, what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

Eddie, still in bed, seizing violently, her eyes rolled back in her head. Jamie called out into the hallway and within moments, there were nurses flooding Eddie’s hospital room, Dr. Coleman right behind them.


	3. Seized

Jamie

Jamie watched as a nurse administered Ativan into Eddie’s IV and another one turned Eddie onto her side and held her head still until she stopped shaking, her hands falling limp at her sides. The nurse named Tara motioned to Jamie that he could come back into the room, a look of sympathy on her face that he was sure was because his own face was filled with complete and utter terror.

He had seen people have seizures before, usually an overdosing perp but occasionally a victim. When it was someone you cared about – and, truthfully, loved – it was something else entirely. Seeing Eddie like that, with her eyes rolled back in her head and her hands postured, ignited a fear in him that he’d never felt before and shook him to his core.

Immediately, he’d started imagining all the possibilities of the cause of the seizure, all of them awful but some worse than others. Concussion. A blood clot. Intracranial bleeding. A brain infection…

Every single possibility terrified him.

When Eddie opened her eyes, the fear in them was beyond heartbreaking. She looked around the room, which was now occupied only by Tara, Dr. Coleman, and Jamie, and it was obvious that she was extremely disoriented.

“Eddie, can you hear me?” Dr. Coleman said, standing above Eddie and raising the head of her bed.

Eddie merely nodded, and it was a moment before she spoke. “What happened? My head hurts.” She put her shaking fingers to her temple. “Where’s Jamie?”

“Jamie is right here. I’ll leave you two alone,” the doctor said, patting Eddie’s arm. “The medicine we put in your IV will make you very sleepy, so try to sleep if you can. I’ll be back to check on you in a little while.” And with that, the doctor slipped out of the room, followed closely by Tara.

Jamie stepped up next to Eddie’s bed, letting her take his hand in hers. “What happened?” she asked again, and Jamie could feel her hand still shaking.

He stroked her fingers as he spoke, hoping to comfort her a little and that his words wouldn’t panic her too much. “You had a seizure. I stepped out to get some coffee and call Danny, and when I came back, you were seizing.”

Eddie seemed to think about that for a minute, chewing the skin on her lips again, her eyebrows furrowed. “I’m so tired and my head hurts,” she said once she finally spoke.

Jamie, without thinking, reached out and brushed a piece of blonde hair out of Eddie’s eyes, his fingers lingering on her forehead for a split second. “Try to rest. I’m going to step out and ask Dr. Coleman some questions, and I’ll be right back.”

Eddie just nodded and closed her eyes, and Jamie squeezed her shoulder lightly before stepping out into the hallway again. Dr. Coleman was on a computer just outside Eddie’s room, and Jamie called her name quietly so as not to scare her. She looked up and rose from the office chair she was sitting in, holding a clipboard in her hands.

“I’m sure you have a few questions about what happened in there,” she said, motioning to Eddie’s room. Jamie nodded, and she continued. “Eddie has no history of seizures that we have charted here. I’m almost positive that the seizure is from the severe head trauma she endured. Truthfully, I’ve never seen head trauma so severe and I’ve been a doctor in this field for seventeen years.” The doctor pursed her lips, staring down at her clipboard.

“So where do we go from here?” Jamie asked.

“I’ll run another MRI on her as soon as possible, make sure there isn’t a bleed in her brain that was somehow missed the first time.” The doctor jotted something down on her clipboard and then looked up at Jamie sympathetically. “Try not to worry, Jamie. Just be with your girlfriend and try to get some rest yourself.”

“Oh, Eddie’s not my girlfriend—” Jamie began, shaking his head.

“Whatever you say,” Dr. Coleman interrupted, winking at Jamie. “I’ll be back to check on her in a bit. It will take a while for her to be less fatigued after the Ativan, so don’t be surprised if she’s out a couple more hours.” Jamie just nodded, and with that, the doctor turned and walked away.

Dumbfounded, Jamie just stood there for a moment, shaking his head before walking back into Eddie’s room. Surprisingly, she was awake. She looked out of it, but she was awake nonetheless.

“What did the doc say?” Eddie asked, her voice rough.

Jamie sat down in the chair beside Eddie’s bed, trying to wipe the worry off his face so she wouldn’t be scared. “She said that your seizure was most likely caused by your head injury, but they’re going to do an MRI on you as soon as possible to be sure there isn’t a bleed in your brain.” To his relief, Eddie merely nodded. “Are you in any pain?”

“My head is killing me and it’s excruciating to take a deep breath,” Eddie replied with a shrug. She looked so sad.

“Well, you have broken ribs, which collapsed one of your lungs. And your head was nearly bashed in. So it’s not surprising that you’re hurting,” Jamie said, “but you’re going to be okay.” He gave her a reassuring nod, and Eddie gave him something remotely resembling a smile.

They were silent for a few minutes, both of them listening to the rain that was still falling outside, before Eddie spoke. “You don’t have to stay here with me, you know. I’ll be fine by myself.”

Jamie scoffed like what she said was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard before turning serious. “Eddie, I’m your partner. We have each other’s backs. If you’re hurt or scared or sick, I’m here for you, no matter what. And I know you’re here for me, too.”

Eddie nodded, looking like she might burst into tears. Jamie lowered the guard rail on the side of her hospital bed and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.

“Jamie?” Eddie said, her voice sounding small, like a child’s. So far from the feisty girl Jamie knew and, yes, loved.

“Yeah?”

Eddie sniffled and Jamie looked up to see her blue eyes shining with unshed tears. “I just want to go home. I want to forget all of this but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to.” Tears finally spilled out of Eddie’s eyes and down her cheeks, and Jamie, without thinking, reached up and wiped them away, his fingers lingering on her bruised cheekbone.

“Probably not,” he began, “but it will get easier to deal with. And I’ll be right here with you, partner.” He gave Eddie a breathtaking smile, and she gave him one right back. She looked exhausted, the bags under her eyes blending in with the horrible bruising on her face. “Why don’t you try to sleep? I’ll be right here.”

Eddie nodded, scooching down in the bed and pulling the covers up. Jamie lowered the head of her bed again, and she was asleep just minutes after closing her eyes.

She’d fallen asleep still holding Jamie’s hand.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Eddie

Eddie’s sleep was, once again, plagued by horrific nightmares, all of them about Brian except one. One of them was about Jake Singer, the man who had sexually assaulted her a year earlier because she’d refused to have sex with him. Both of them monsters, monsters who had each damaged Eddie more than anybody could comprehend.

Eddie awoke as an awful, animalistic scream ripped from her throat, and Jamie was right there. He had the guard rail lowered and was sitting on the edge of her bed within seconds, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest.

“Shhh, it’s alright,” he crooned, pressing his lips to the top of her head. “I’m here and you’re okay. You’re okay, I promise.” Eddie turned and pressed her face into her partner’s chest, tears dripping from her cheeks and onto his sweatshirt.

After he was sure she’d calmed down, Jamie moved back over to the chair by Eddie’s bed but kept hold of her hand, stroking her fingers with his. She’d found that him stroking her fingers calmed her, far more than Jamie probably knew. She held tight to his hand and wiped her cheeks with her other hand, feeling slightly humiliated.

“Wanna talk about it?” Jamie asked, studying Eddie’s face a little too closely for her liking. She had never felt so hideous in her entire life.

Eddie merely shrugged. “It was just a nightmare, but this time, it was about Jake Singer. I haven’t had a nightmare about him in so long… I guess all of this with Brian just brought everything with Jake up again.”

Jamie stared down at their hands, his on top of hers. He was shaking his head as he spoke. “You’ve been through far too much in the last year, Eddie. I hate it. I hate so much to watch you hurt and see you so scared.”

Eddie didn’t know what to say, so she just wrapped her hand around Jamie’s and held on tight. They just sat there after that, neither saying a thing, only listening to the sound of the rain once again. Eventually, Eddie fell back to sleep, and this time, it was dreamless. Little did she know at the time, Jamie fell asleep, too, slumped over in the chair beside her bed.

Much to Eddie’s dismay, Tara showed up about an hour and a half later with the stupid wheelchair again, ready to take her for an MRI. They left Jamie sleeping, and when the MRI was done and they got back to Eddie’s room, he was still out cold. Eddie couldn’t stop thinking about how damn cute he looked, slumped over in that hideous chair, his lips pursed in what looked like a pout.

Knowing the MRI results wouldn’t be in until the morning, Tara gave Eddie one more dose of pain medicine and something to help her sleep. Eddie was brought a tray of food that looked inedible, but she ate a little of it anyway. She was out cold an hour later, sleeping dreamlessly once again.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jamie

Jamie had the task of waking Eddie every three hours and asking her simple questions, like her name and birthday. He set an alarm on his phone and every time he had to wake Eddie up, she acted like she was about to cry. He knew she needed rest, but he also knew it was important to make sure the head injury wasn’t impacting her worse than they thought.

Finally, the morning came, and Eddie was groggy but seemed less out of it than the day before. She was given a dose of pain medicine at 8:30am and their usual nurse brought in a tray of food that, to Jamie, looked absolutely disgusting. Eddie had a serious attitude about it (frankly, he didn’t blame her) and picked at it for an hour before the nurse finally took it away, leaving Eddie hungry and beyond cranky. Jamie promised to go get her a cheeseburger from one of their favorite places, planning to shower, too, while he was out.

Dr. Coleman came in at around 10:00, and the look on her face was somber. Jamie’s heart started pounding in his chest. “Well, Eddie, I have your MRI results, and things are worse than we thought. A concussion is classified as a minor brain injury, and from what I’m seeing here, your head injury is certainly not minor.”

“How bad is it?” Eddie asked, looking like she just might faint. Jamie reached over and gently squeezed her knee, giving her a smile that made her forget her name.

The doctor flipped a page on her clipboard, her lips pursed. “I’m classifying it now as a moderate traumatic brain injury. If you don’t have more symptoms, I’ll release you this evening. This level of injury can cause unconsciousness, so Jamie or somebody will need to be with you for the first few days you’re home.”

Jamie nodded, looking at Eddie and seeing the worry in her face. “What other symptoms do we need to look out for?”

Dr. Coleman began to rattle off symptoms, each one of them scaring Jamie and Eddie a little more. “More seizures or convulsions, loss of consciousness from several minutes to hours, a persistent headache, repeated nausea or vomiting, unusual dilation of one or both pupils, weakness or numbness in fingers and toes, and loss of coordination are the main ones you’ll need to look out for.”

When Jamie nor Eddie said anything, the doctor continued. “You’ll also need to watch out for emotional changes, such as depression, anxiety, mood swings, irritability, lack of empathy, anger, and insomnia, even though a lot of these could be a result of what happened to you, Eddie. Just don’t be afraid to talk to Jamie or someone else you’re close to, about anything. You’re not alone.”

Eddie nodded, looking ashen, her eyes wide and haunted. “Thank you, Doctor.”

Dr. Coleman nodded politely, tucking her clipboard under her arm. “My pleasure, Eddie. Tara will be back in to give you another dose of pain medicine around lunchtime, and I’ll start working on your discharge paperwork.” With a warm smile, the doctor left the room, closing the door behind her.

Eddie just sat there, saying absolutely nothing. Jamie knew she was going to a much darker place, and he wanted desperately to pull her out of it. “What kind of burger do you want?” he said, nudging her arm.

Eddie didn’t look at him, but she responded. “A bacon cheeseburger, please. With extra bacon.”

“Fries and a Coke?”

Finally, Eddie met his eyes and gave him a semblance of a smile. “Yes, please. But Jamie, I’m begging you to go home and rest for a while first. I’ll be okay until then.” She was begging him with her eyes, and it really drove her point home when she reached over and traced the bags that had formed under his eyes with her finger. His skin tingled at the contact. “You’re exhausted. If you’re not going to go to work because of me, at least take care of yourself.”

Jamie pursed his lips and sighed, standing finally and stretching before sliding his arms into his jacket. “Alright. You win. I’m going to go home for a while and shower, then I’ll be back with your food. Try not to miss me too much.”

Eddie cracked a smile and said, “Alright, I’ll try.”

He threw her a smile back before walking out of the room, leaving the door open a crack behind him.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Eddie

Jamie had been gone for nearly two hours when Eddie’s door opened and Renzulli walked in, carrying flowers and immediately looking at her like she might crack.

“How you feeling, kid?” Renzulli asked, setting the flowers on the windowsill and taking a seat in what she had dubbed Jamie’s chair. “Jamie said you took quite the beating.”

Eddie plastered on a fake smile and nodded. “Yeah, I guess he did. My ribs are broken and I have what they call a moderate traumatic brain injury. It’s worse than a concussion. I had a seizure yesterday apparently.” Eddie picked at her nails as she spoke, making one of her fingers bleed.

The look on Renzulli’s face was of pure sympathy. Eddie had always liked Renzulli, and she would trust him with her life. “I’m so sorry, kid. I just wanted to let you know that even after you’re cleared for duty, you take as long as you need. And you let any of us know if you need anything.” To Eddie’s surprise, Renzulli bent down and kissed Eddie’s head.

“Thank you, Sergeant,” Eddie said, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Renzulli patted her leg gently and left the room, giving her a smile on his way out.

Alone again, Eddie’s eyes immediately fell on her cell phone, which hadn’t been touched since Thursday night. Ever since she’d woken up on that first day, Eddie had been terrified to look at it, afraid that she would see calls from Brian, from the son of a bitch that put her in the hospital in the first place. She wouldn’t dare tell Jamie this, not yet, but Brian had been stalking her for a few weeks, calling her constantly and sending her creepy letters. She had kept all of it, though, as evidence to turn over to the police.

With shaky fingers, she reached for her cell phone, clicking the home button. It was at six percent battery, and a message icon flashed on the screen. Eddie’s heart dropped into her stomach and she thought she just might throw up. Trying to keep her composure, she clicked on the message, and what popped up confirmed her fears. The time stamp said the text was sent at 8:06 that morning:

Surely you didn’t think you’d gotten rid of me so easily. I know where you sleep. Remember that.

Eddie fought the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. Instead, she dialed Jamie’s number, praying to whatever god there was that he would answer. And he did, on the third ring.

“Eddie, you alright?” he answered, sounding a little breathless.

Eddie tried her hardest to keep the terror out of her voice. It didn’t work. “Jamie, he texted me,” she said frantically, her voice wavering.

She didn’t have to clarify who she was talking about; Jamie knew immediately. “What?” Jamie practically shouted, and she could hear what sounded like a car door slamming. “Eddie, I’m almost there. I have your food and I’m on my way to you now. Don’t delete the text.”

“I won’t,” Eddie said, her eyes filled with tears. And with that, she hung up, putting the phone on the table by her bed.

Within ten minutes, Jamie was running through the door, his cheeks flushed and his breathing fast. Immediately, Eddie unlocked her phone and handed it to him, watching his face as he read the text. His face was ashen, and she was sure hers was, too.

As she sat there, Eddie began imagining all of the scenarios that could very well happen if Brian found her, and before she knew it, the monitor beside her bed was beeping rapidly, and Jamie was standing over her, his eyes wide.

“Eddie, I need you to calm down. Your blood pressure is rising,” Jamie said, pulling up his chair as close as he could get to her bed. He put one hand on her shoulder and one on her knee, rubbing soothing circles.

She calmed eventually, enough to have a conversation without crying or screaming or both. Jamie stepped out into the hallway to call Danny and fill him in, and he was back in the room within a minute. “Danny and Baez will come talk to you once you’re released later. And Eddie, you’re coming to my place instead of yours. I’ll go with you to pick up some of your stuff, whatever it is you need, but I can’t let you go home after what that asshole said in that text.”

Eddie pursed her lips and looked away from him, peeved and homesick and so overwhelmed. “Jamie, I’ll be fine at my apartment. I’m sure he knows somebody will be watching the place. I’ll be okay.” But truthfully, she wasn’t so sure.

“Eddie, seriously,” Jamie began, sounding slightly exasperated. “When I got here, you were shaking like a leaf. That text terrified you. I’ve never seen you so scared.” His voice sounded exasperated, but his face was full of nothing but concern.

Eddie was silent for a minute, once again picking at her nails until her nail beds were bloody. “Whatever, Jamie,” she said finally, cringing at how bitchy she sounded. “I’ll stay at your house for a few days, but that’s it. I can’t let him control my life and take my home away from me because I’m so scared to go back.”

Jamie merely nodded in understanding, dropping the subject for the time being, and handed her bag containing her food. “Eat and try your best to relax. I’m going to go check on the status of your discharge paperwork.”

“Thank you, Jamie,” Eddie said with a smile, all traced of attitude gone from her voice. He nodded and smiled before stepping out into the hallway. When he got back, it was with Dr. Coleman closely behind him, holding a thick stack of papers.

“Alright, Eddie,” the doctor began, handing Eddie the papers, “I’m releasing you, but you have to take it easy. No going back to work for a while, and you cannot constantly be up and moving about, not for a week or so. I’ve recommended to Jamie here that he keep a close eye on you, and if you have any of the symptoms I mentioned earlier, he’s to bring you back here immediately. Okay?”

Eddie nodded, feeling a bit giddy to be leaving. She felt like she’d been in that hospital for weeks, not just two days and, even though she had to go to Jamie’s house instead of hers, she was ecstatic just to be leaving at all.

“For the first two weeks she’s home,” Dr. Coleman continued, “she needs to be woken up every three hours and asked simple things like what her name is, just like you’ve been doing here. I would like to reiterate that it’s extremely important to watch for behavioral changes also, not just physical symptoms.”

The doctor proceeded to hand Eddie the aftercare instructions and something to sign, as well as prescriptions for painkillers, an anti-inflammatory, and something to help her sleep. After everything was covered, Jamie helped Eddie into the wheelchair and made sure she had everything she’d come there with.

The minute they thanked Dr. Coleman and checked out, Eddie felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. With Jamie, she felt safe and protected, even though she would never admit it to him.

The rain had stopped and the sky was now a beautiful blue, adding to Eddie’s increasingly better mood. Jamie helped her from the wheelchair into the front seat of his car, reminding her fifty times to watch her head. The further from the hospital they got, the better Eddie felt. She even felt like maybe, just maybe, they might catch Brian and everything might actually be okay.

Little did she know, the son of a bitch was just getting started.


	4. Back Home

Chapter Four

JAMIE

After leaving the hospital, Jamie and Eddie immediately went to the pharmacy to pick up Eddie’s new medications before driving back to Eddie’s apartment to get her things. The drive was quiet; Eddie had taken one of the new pain pills, and Jamie could see her starting to fade. She looked exhausted. She was turned towards him in her seat, her temple against the headrest. Her eyes were starting to close, and soon she was sound asleep.

Jamie left her to sleep until they got to her apartment. After he put the car in park, he sat there, the engine on, just allowing Eddie a few more minutes of sleep before they had to go up and look at her apartment, look at where Eddie had nearly lost her life. He had no doubt that Brian would have killed her if she hadn’t fought back, and that thought made him sick.

Before he could get too deep into his thoughts, he put his hand on Eddie’s knee and she startled awake, eyes wide, searching for a threat. “Easy, easy,” he soothed, reaching a finger up to stroke her cheek. “It’s okay. It’s just me. You fell asleep and we’re at your apartment.” She calmed almost immediately. His finger lingered on her cheekbone for a second. “You ready to go in?”

Eddie nodded and swiftly unbuckled her seatbelt. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“You know, Eddie, you don’t have to go in if you don’t want to. Just tell me what you need and where it is and I’ll bring it out to you,” Jamie offered, even knowing she wouldn’t take him up on it.

“No, I need to do this. If I don’t now, I never will,” Eddie said adamantly, slowly opening the door and climbing out of the car.

Jamie followed closely behind her, and he was just a couple feet away when she wobbled on her feet, her arms shooting out to her sides to help catch her balance. Jamie was by her side in seconds, his hands on her shoulders. “Whoa. You okay?” he asked, looking into her eyes, which looked glazed over.

Eddie nodded, but she didn’t look so sure. “I’m okay. I just feel a little light-headed. I’m fine. Let’s go.” She jabbed a thumb in the direction of her apartment building. “I’m ready to get this over with.”

Jamie nodded in understanding and they walked, his arm remaining around her waist, just in case. Climbing the stairs up to Eddie’s floor was a bitch for her in the condition she was in, and it physically pained Jamie to watch her heave, out of breath, with her hand to her chest. He offered once again to go up and get her stuff for her, but she declined once again.

When they finally got to Eddie’s apartment door, she was breathing like she’d just run a marathon, and she looked terrified. She had chewed her lip to the point that it was bloody, exactly like she’d done to her fingernails, he’d noticed. As they stood in front of her door, Eddie dipped a hand in her bag and pulled out her keys.

Jamie watched with a racing heart as she unlocked the door with trembling fingers but stopped her just as she was about to go in. “Would you kill me if I asked you to wait out in the hallway while I clear your apartment?” She hit him with a look that said seriously? and he quickly followed it with, “Eddie, I just want to make sure the asshole didn’t come back and is hiding in your apartment, waiting on you to come home.”

For a second, Eddie looked like she might cry. Her lower lip trembled and her nostrils flared. But no tears came, only a hesitant nod. Jamie took that as his cue and entered her apartment, pulling his weapon from the holster on his hip, making sure not to close the front door behind him.

The first thing Jamie noticed was the incredibly obvious sign of a struggle that he hadn’t been able to see in the dark when he’d found her Friday night. There were clothes and broken glass strewn everywhere, and he stopped looking too closely after he saw a huge streak of blood leading up to the couch he’d found her on. He knew it would do him no good to look at that blood and think about how it had gotten there. Careful not to touch anything, Jamie cleared the kitchen and living room first and then moved on to the rest of the apartment, moving as quickly as he could so Eddie could get in and get what she wanted and they could leave.

When he’d cleared the apartment and returned to the hallway, he found Eddie leaned against the wall, staring straight ahead and chewing on her fingernails (or what was left of them). “Is it clear, Officer?” she said sarcastically, pushing off the wall and past him into the apartment.

The scene inside the apartment seemed to hit Eddie like a ton of bricks, just like Jamie had been afraid it would. She was in tears within seconds, and Jamie could tell she was fighting the urge to turn around and run out the front door and never come back.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me where your stuff is and I’ll get it for you?” Jamie offered again, and Eddie was once again shaking her head before he could even finish the sentence. He merely nodded understandingly and put his hand on the small of her back, gently ushering her forward.

“Are you sure it’s okay for us to even be in here? Isn’t this technically a crime scene?” Eddie asked, walking in front of him to her bedroom, where she immediately dropped to the floor and lifted the mattress with her good hand.

“I checked with Danny,” Jamie assured her, holding the mattress for her while she stuck a hand under it. “He said it was okay as long as we just got your stuff and left.” Jamie watched as a panicked look crossed Eddie’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s not fucking here,” Eddie said, frustration apparent in her tone.

“What’s not here?”

“Goddammit. The records. The records of the calls and all the letters, they were here and now they’re not!” Eddie’s voice was bordering on hysterical, and Jamie felt panic building inside of him.

Jamie almost told her to calm down but he valued his life and decided against it. “They have to be here,” he said, even though they both knew they weren’t there, and they both knew who had taken them. “Do you think…?”

He didn’t even have to finish his sentence. Eddie had the same thought, he could tell, and she looked beyond terrified. He was scared himself, but he wouldn’t show it. “That son of a bitch,” Eddie muttered, shaking her head.

Jamie chose his words carefully before he spoke, hoping not to scare her even worse than she already was. “Now we know he’s been back here. Just get whatever it is you need and let’s get out of here.” In case he comes back, he thought silently, knowing better than to say it out loud.

Eddie just nodded and rose to her feet. Jamie watched as she went to her closet and pulled out a bag, haphazardly shoving necessities in. He just stood watching her with his arms crossed, waiting patiently.

What he couldn’t see were the tears streaming down her face as she packed.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

EDDIE

The cold air outside hit Jamie and Eddie like a ton of bricks as they exited her apartment building. They were silent as they walked to Jamie’s car, Jamie carrying Eddie’s bag for her, much to her dismay. As they settled into Jamie’s Mustang and he turned the car on, Eddie blew into her hands to warm them until hot air finally came out of the vents.

“Are you hungry?” Jamie asked as he pulled away from the curb.

Food was the last thing on her mind. Truthfully, she just wanted to get back to Jamie’s apartment and go to sleep. “No,” she said simply. “Just tired.”

“Okay. I can get you something when we get back to my place if you get hungry.”

Eddie just nodded and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the headrest. She was sure this sudden exhaustion was a combination of the pain medicine and being in the warm car with Jamie, where she knew she was safe.

Next thing Eddie knew, somebody was saying her name and shaking her shoulder. She jolted awake, calming the minute she saw that it was Jamie. “It’s okay,” Jamie assured her. “We’re in front of my building. You fell asleep in the car.”

Eddie nodded and sat up, unbuckling her seatbelt and grabbing her bag out of the backseat, despite Jamie insisting he would carry it. She had one hell of a headache, and the sunlight that hit her when she climbed out of the car was blinding. She felt like she was dragging her feet as her and Jamie walked into the warmth of his building.

“Thank God there’s a damn elevator,” Eddie grumbled, earning an amused smile from Jamie as he pushed the elevator button and the door opened.

Jamie watched her closely as she pushed two fingers to her left temple, his eyebrows knitting together in a way that she’d always found rather cute. “You okay?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded, giving him some semblance of a smile. “Just a bad headache. And I need a nap and a shower.”

Jamie nodded, still looking cute and concerned. “Well, as soon as Danny and Baez leave, you can take the longest nap in the world,” he said as the elevator opened to his floor.

Jamie’s apartment was warm and inviting, especially after being in her own apartment and seeing what a disaster it was. Jamie immediately made her sit down on the couch, and she didn’t argue.

“Your apartment feels more like home than mine does right now,” Eddie said sadly, sinking down into the sofa.

Jamie gave her a sad smile in return, only breaking eye contact with her when his phone dinged and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Danny said they’ll be here in ten.”

And they were. Not even quite ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and before Eddie knew it, Danny and Baez were sitting across from her. The looks of sympathy on both of their faces were making Eddie uncomfortable.

“First, we just want to say we’re so sorry this happened to you,” Baez said, smiling sadly at her.

“Thank you,” Eddie said awkwardly, giving something that was meant to look like a reassuring smile but probably looked more like a grimace. “Just ask me whatever it is you want to ask me. I’m okay.”

Jamie brought all of them a cup of coffee and sat down beside Eddie. She was grateful for his presence and felt calmed by it.

“Thanks,” Danny said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Alright, Eddie. What is the name of the guy who attacked you? Jamie mentioned that you knew him?”

“Brian Yates.” Eddie pictured his face in her head as she said his name and shivered a bit.

Danny wrote something down on a pad of paper in his lap. “And how do you know him?”

Here we go, Eddie thought, cringing as she thought about those first couple years with Brian. “I dated him for three years in my mid twenties. He got violent after about a year and a half, and I was terrified to break up with him. After I finally did, he threatened me constantly. I had to change my number too many times to count, and finally the threats stopped. They started again about five weeks ago, because somehow, he found out where I lived and got my number. He started sending me letters and calling me constantly.”

“And do you have records of the calls and letters?” Danny asked, writing as he spoke.

Eddie exchanged a look with Jamie, who was silent. “I did. I had them hidden under my mattress as of Thursday night. I made sure to hide them, but when Jamie and I went back this afternoon to get my things, they were gone.” Eddie shook her head, tears stinging her eyes. This all seemed so surreal.

Danny’s head snapped up, but it was Baez who spoke. “So he’s been back to your apartment since the attack?”

Eddie nodded, a tear escaping her right eye. She quickly wiped it away. “I guess so. I do still have a few of the calls on the call log on my cell phone.” She fished her cell phone out of her sweatpants pocket with her good hand and unlocked it. Then, she remembered something. “You know, he did send me a text while I was in the hospital.”

“More like another threat,” Jamie added, jaw clenched. “I was out getting her something to eat and she called me in tears, saying Brian had texted her.” Jamie was shaking his head as he spoke, as if trying to make the memory disappear like an Etch-A-Sketch. She wished she could erase all her memories and his, too, of the awful last few days.

Without hesitating, Eddie handed her phone over to Danny, watching as he read the text and scanned through the calls. “Did he ever say anything in the calls? The number is blocked. How do you know it was him?”

“No, he never said anything. But I know it was him,” Eddie said, peeved. “I could hear breathing sometimes and sometimes nothing. But I have no doubt it was him.”

“Okay. And what did the letters say?”

“Usually they would begin with some creepy poem,” Eddie recalled, trying to envision the letters in her head, “and he would go on to make sadistic comments and he would always make sure to remind me that he knew where I lived and he could come in anytime. And I guess he did.” This time, when a tear escaped, she didn’t bother to wipe it away.

“Eddie, you don’t have to be strong right now,” Baez reminded her gently, her voice soothing. “It’s okay to cry. You’ve been through a hell of a lot, more than anybody ever should go through.”

At Baez’s words, more tears escaped. Jamie, without thinking, reached over and rubbed circles between Eddie’s shoulder blades. It earned him an odd look from Danny but nobody commented on it, much to her relief.

After her father was put away, Eddie Janko had learned not to depend on anyone or anything, but she had to admit that she needed Jamie worse than she’d ever needed anybody.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

JAMIE

Jamie watched as Eddie bravely answered all of Danny’s questions, with Danny writing various things down on a notepad. At one point, silence filled the room, and Jamie knew what was coming.

“Eddie, would you feel more comfortable if Detective Baez were the one to ask you about the… attack?” Just like Jamie had, it was obvious that Danny had a hard time saying “rape,” even though that was what it was.

Eddie looked over at Jamie, her expression uncertain. She merely nodded, and Baez escorted her to the spare bedroom, leaving Danny and Jamie together in the living room.

“How is she holding up, kid?” Danny asked quietly, jabbing a thumb in the general direction that Eddie and Baez had gone.

Jamie shrugged, unsure of how to answer at first. “As well as to be expected, I guess. She’s furious that the call records and letters are gone, and I don’t blame her. Even if she could go back to her apartment and stay there, she’s too scared to.”

Danny nodded. “We’ll go back to her apartment and seal it off. Any idea how the bastard got in the first time?”

“I assume the fire escape, because the door hadn’t been forced open when I got there on Friday.”

“How was she when you found her? And around what time?” Danny had the pen poised over the notepad, ready to take down any information Jamie could give him.

“I had been calling her since Wednesday. She had banged in sick two days in a row. Finally, on Friday night around 9:00, I went to her apartment and I heard whimpering coming from inside. I announced myself and when she still didn’t answer, I shoved the door open to find her half naked and crying on the couch. I asked her what had happened and at first she wouldn’t tell me, and finally she said, ‘He tried to kill me’. I asked who and she told me that it was Brian, who she met after tour Wednesday night, which I later found out wasn’t true.” Remembering the blank look on Eddie’s face ran a chill down Jamie’s spine.

Danny nodded and wrote everything down, filling an entire page and flipping to a new one. “Did the hospital do a rape kit?” he asked Jamie, almost in a whisper.

“Yeah,” Jamie said sadly. “She wouldn’t let me go in with her. She did it alone.”

Danny could apparently see the worry on Jamie’s face and reached over to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “She’ll be okay, kid. She’s tough as nails.”

Jamie forced a smile and nodded. “I know.” She was tough as nails and he knew that, but he still wasn’t sure she would come back 100% from this. He was absolutely sure, however, that he would be by her side through everything, no matter what.

Before Danny could say anything else, Detective Baez and Eddie returned to the living room. Eddie had dried tear streaks mingled in with the angry bruises on her cheeks, but what struck Jamie was how exhausted she looked, like everything left in her had been drained.

“Alright, we’ll leave you two be,” Danny said, rising from the couch. Eddie looked relieved, and Jamie had to admit that he was, too.

“We’ll call if we have anymore questions, and you two call if you need anything. Don’t hesitate,” Baez added, trailing behind Danny to Jamie’s front door.

“Thank you both,” Eddie said, giving them something that vaguely resembled a smile.

“We’re gonna get this guy,” Danny reassured Eddie. And with that, they were gone, and Jamie and Eddie were alone once again.

After locking the door and checking it three times, Jamie turned to Eddie. Any trace of a smile had left her face; now she just looked exhausted. “Do you want to take a nap?” he asked her, knowing the answer before he even spoke the question.

Eddie nodded, plopping back down on the couch. “I think I’ll just take a nap here.” She turned and laid down on her right side, grabbing one of the pillows and sticking it under her head.

“I have a spare bedroom, you know,” Jamie reminded her, pointing towards the hallway.

“I’m fine here,” she reassured him, snuggling down into the couch.

Jamie grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over her, watching as her eyes started to get droopy. “I’ll leave you be. I’ll be down the hall if you need me.” Without thinking, he reached down and stroked her cheek, earning him a sleepy smile.

Eddie surprised him by reaching out and grabbing his wrist just as he was about to leave the room. “Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?” she asked, her beautiful blue eyes gazing up at him. She looked like a little girl, nothing like the tough-as-nails Eddie he knew.

Jamie nodded without hesitation. “Sure,” he whispered, reaching down to lift her feet and plopping himself down at the end of the couch, pulling her feet into his lap. “Close your eyes. I’ll be right here.”

He got no answer, and when he looked over at her, her eyes were already closed.

Jamie leaned his head back and he, too, fell in a dreamless, relaxed sleep for the first time in days.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

EDDIE

When Eddie awoke, it was 8:30pm and pitch dark outside, and her headache was gone. She smiled sleepily as she looked to her left and saw Jamie at the end of the couch, sound asleep with her feet in his lap, his arm laying over her protectively.

Not wanting to wake him, Eddie slid her feet off his lap as gently and quietly as she could, but despite her efforts, Jamie’s eyes shot open. “Eddie?” he said, his voice taut with worry even seconds after waking up.

Turning to face him, Eddie put her hand on Jamie’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “I’m here,” she assured him. “It’s okay. You just fell asleep.”

Jamie raked a hand over his face and stretched his arms above his head, yawning. “How do you feel?” he asked her, studying her face. He looked exhausted himself.

Eddie just shrugged. “I feel okay. As good as can be expected, I guess. I’m a little hungry.”

Jamie smiled as if this were the best news he’d received all week and rose from the couch, stretching again and exposing a tanned patch of skin where his sweatpants had slipped down his hips. Her cheeks turned red at the thought that popped in her head, and luckily, Jamie didn’t notice.

“Do you want to order in? Maybe from that Italian place on 44th?” he asked her, his hands on his hips.

Eddie’s mouth watered at the thought of Italian food, and a little part of her was stoked that her appetite was back. Not completely, but it was back. Small miracles, she thought. “Sounds good.”

Jamie smiled and, after writing down what they both wanted, called to place the delivery order. Now that she’d slept, Eddie decided she needed a shower, and she expressed this to Jamie when he got off the phone.

“I think we can manage that,” Jamie said before disappearing to the hallway, Eddie close behind him. She watched as he pulled two towels off the shelf and put them next to the sink. “Alright, everything you need is in here. I’ll change your dressings when you get out.”

Eddie gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Jamie.” He gave her a smile in return and closed the door quietly behind him.

After undressing, Eddie stood there for a moment in front of the mirror, studying her reflection closely for the first time. She hardly recognized herself. The normal under-eye bags she had had been replaced by actual black eyes where Brian had hit her in the face. In addition, there were bruises and cuts scattered all over the rest of her face, not even counting the deep gash on her forehead that she saw when she removed the blood-soaked bandage. Next, she turned and tore the dressings off her back, studying the horrific lacerations there, which frankly looked infected.

Closing her eyes tight, she shook her head, wishing she could forget the image of the angry red lashes all over her body as tears stung her eyes. Before she could torture herself by looking at them again, she left the mirror and turned the shower on, letting it run hot for a minute before climbing in.

It wasn’t until the hot water hit her skin that Eddie realized how dirty and disgusting she felt, probably from a combination of the hospital and the attack. She looked down at the floor of the shower and realized that the water was a gross rust color because she’d still had some of her own blood on her body. The hospital had offered her a shower or a sponge bath on her last day there, but she’d just wanted to get to her apartment and have a shower there. Now it looked like she wouldn’t be going back home for a while.

Eddie scrubbed her skin raw, but no matter what, she didn’t feel clean. She didn’t feel like she would ever be completely clean again. She stayed in the shower, sitting on the floor under the water, until she was shivering, only getting out when Jamie came in to check on her, sounding worried. She told him she was fine and that she was about to get out, but when she stood, she was hit with a wave of dizziness that told her that she was definitely not fine.

Eddie’s vision grayed around the edges, a wave of nausea hit her, and everything went black.


	5. Fallen

**Chapter Five  
  
Jamie**  
  
Jamie was just about to go check on Eddie again when he heard it, the loud _thud_ that sent chills down his spine. He’d specifically not turned the TV on so that he could hear if Eddie lost her balance and fell or if she yelled for help. So when he heard that telltale noise, he shot up off the couch and to the bathroom door which, thankfully, Eddie hadn’t locked.  
  
The scene inside the bathroom was exactly what Jamie had been fearing the second he heard the thump. Eddie was laying half in the shower and half out, stark naked, passed out cold. To preserve some of her dignity, he wrapped a towel around her and pulled her up, cradling her against his chest awkwardly, her wet hair and skin soaking his t-shirt. “Eddie!” he yelled, gently patting her face.  
  
Remembering that Dr. Coleman had warned them that she may lose consciousness anywhere from minutes to hours, Jamie tried his best not to panic, seeing as she was still breathing and had only been out less than a minute. Jamie continued calling her name and gently patting her cheeks, and finally, after about two minutes unconscious, she started to come to.  
  
“Jamie?” she called out, her eyes still closed.  
  
Jamie gently laid her on her back on the floor, supporting her head with his hand but still trying to give her space. “Yeah, Eddie, it’s me.”  
  
Eddie’s eyes shot open and she looked around the bathroom frantically, trying desperately to sit upright. “I passed out?”  
  
Jamie nodded, helping her to sit up. “Yeah, you did. You’re okay now. Do you know where you are?”  
  
“In your bathroom?” Eddie asked, seeming a little unsure.  
  
Jamie nodded reassuringly. “You passed out in the shower.”

Eddie suddenly seemed to realize that he she was laying on the floor, stark naked under a towel, and her face turned bright red. Jamie found it beyond cute, although he would never tell her that. “Yeah, because that’s not embarrassing at all,” she muttered, looking humiliated and flustered.  
  
Jamie quickly changed the subject. “Does your head hurt?” He reached a hand out and felt the back of her head, relieved when he didn’t feel a knot.  
  
Eddie shook her head. “Not any worse than it did before I fell.”  
  
Jamie nodded and got to his feet, holding out his hands for her to grab onto to pull herself up. She wobbled a little as she stood, and Jamie’s hands shot out to steady her. “Do you want to change the dressing on your head or do you want me to?”  
  
Eddie bit her lip, looking embarrassed. “Can you do it?”  
  
Jamie smiled, surprised. “Sure. Sit on the sink. I’ll go get the bandages.” He left her in the bathroom and went to grab the bag from the hospital that they had stuffed with gauze and bandages. When he returned, she was sitting up on the sink, her legs somehow criss-crossed. He grabbed alcohol from the cabinet above the sink and poured it on a piece of gauze. “This is gonna sting,” he warned her, but she hissed in surprise anyway when he brushed alcohol over her head wound. “This one looks like it might be infected.” The skin around the gash, which extended into her hairline, was bright red and extremely concerning.  
  
Eddie’s eyebrows knitted together in worry, but she said nothing. After he secured a bandage over the wound, he rubbed his hands together, satisfied with his work. “Alright. Do you want to get a loose t-shirt on and I’ll do the dressings on your back before our food gets here?”  
  
Eddie nodded and hopped off the sink, padding in her towel into the living room to the bag she’d packed. He left the bathroom carrying the hospital bag and watched as she yanked a plain baby blue t-shirt, a pair of sweats and a pair of underwear out, tucking them all under her arm and silently making her way to the bathroom. When she emerged, Jamie couldn’t help but think how beautiful she looked. Despite having just fainted, her face had a bit of color in it, and she looked a lot healthier than she really was. She was starting to look like Eddie again, slowly but surely.  
  
Eddie plopped down on the couch, leaving room for Jamie to sit behind her. “Let’s get this over with,” she grumbled, looking nervous.  
  
Gently, Jamie lifted her t-shirt, exposing her bare back, and a gasp escaped his lips at the sight. “Oh, my God. Eddie…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say. Strewn across her back were angry, deep gashes and dark purple bruises, as if somebody had alternated kicking her and hitting her with something, hard. Her back was covered in them.  
  
“What?” Eddie said, her voice fearful.  
  
“Did he hit you with something sharp?” Jamie inquired, pouring the alcohol on another gauze pad and wiping all of the cuts down.  
  
Eddie was silent for a moment, and her voice was wavering when she spoke. “I think it may have been his belt.”  
  
The visual of Brian hitting a half-naked Eddie with a fucking _belt_ made Jamie so angry that if Brian had been there in Jamie’s living room in that moment, he could have killed him. “I’m so sorry, Eddie,” was all Jamie could say. What else _was_ there to say? There was nothing he could say to take any of this away, so he said nothing more, and neither did Eddie.  
  
After all of Eddie’s cuts were covered in alcohol and bandages, Jamie lowered her t-shirt. “I’m going to step into the hall and call the number Dr. Coleman gave me to call if you had any symptoms,” he declared, standing from the couch. “If she says to bring you back, we’re going back after dinner.” To his shock, Eddie didn’t argue, just laid back against the couch cushions.  
  
Dr. Coleman answered after three rings. “ _This is Dr. Coleman_.”  
  
“Hi, Dr. Coleman, it’s Jamie.”  
  
The doctor sounded surprised and worried almost immediately. “ _Is Eddie alright?_ ”  
  
“Uh… I’m not completely sure,” Jamie said. He filled the doctor in on Eddie passing out, making sure to note that she regained consciousness after two minutes.  
  
Dr. Coleman sounded relieved. “ _Losing consciousness with that level of a head injury is very common, so don’t worry about that unless she’s confused and disoriented when she regains consciousness, or begins vomiting. Otherwise, don’t worry._ ”  
  
Jamie breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. That’s good.”  
  
“ _But please, if she has any more symptoms, don’t hesitate to call this number or the hospital, no matter what time it is._ ”  
  
Jamie thanked her and they hung up. He returned to the living room to find Eddie still on the couch, her legs folded Indian-style. “Well? What did the doc say?” she asked, her eyebrows shooting up inquisitively.  
  
“She said that unless you’re confused or start vomiting when you regain consciousness, I don’t need to bring you in.”  
  
“Sweet,” Eddie said, looking as relieved as Jamie felt.  
  
Jamie’s stomach grumbled and as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Eddie jumped a mile. After checking to make sure it was the delivery guy, Jamie opened the door, handed the food off to Eddie and paid and tipped the delivery guy. When he turned around, Eddie was on the couch, already eating her ravioli with the plastic fork that was in the food bag. She caught him smiling at her and paused, marinara sauce on her chin. “What?” she said, clueless.  
  
“I’m just glad your appetite is back is all,” Jamie told her as he plopped down beside her, laughing as she swiped a hand across her mouth.  
  
They ate in silence mostly, eating their pasta and downing their soda like there was no tomorrow. Just as Eddie was finishing her ravioli and stuffing a piece of garlic bread in her mouth, Eddie’s cell phone vibrated with a text message, and a look of fear crossed her face. She looked at Jamie, her face panicked, as she picked her phone up off the coffee table in front of them.  
  
Jamie watched as her eyes widened while she started down at her phone. “What does it say?” he asked, fighting the urge to take the phone out of her hand. But he didn’t have to; she threw it over to him like it had burned her. Her eyes were filled with tears, and when Jamie read the text, he understood why:  
  
_He can’t watch over you forever, you know. I found you before and I can find you again._ _  
  
_ There was a phone number attached to the text this time, and Jamie texted the number to Danny before turning to Eddie, laying the phone aside. Eddie was nearly hysterical. “Eddie, it’s going to be okay. I promise you. We’re going to get the son of a bitch. Okay?”  
  
Eddie nodded brokenly and swiped the tears from her cheeks. “He’s smart. What if you never get him?” she asked, and the fear in her voice broke Jamie’s heart.  
  
“We will, Eddie. I _promise_.” But deep down, he wasn’t as sure as he sounded.  
  
****

* * *

**  
** Eddie finally fell asleep around 11:30 that night. After dinner and after that taunting text from Brian had arrived, Jamie had found a movie for them to watch, a comedy airing on TV. Eddie hadn’t been paying much attention, though, and honestly, neither had he. His watch said 11:32 when he looked over and saw that Eddie had fallen asleep, her features taut and her expression worried even in sleep.  
  
After debating with himself for about twenty minutes, Jamie made the decision that Eddie needed to sleep in an actual bed, especially after sleeping in a hospital bed for far too long. And so he quietly and gently lifted Eddie from the couch and carried her to the guest bedroom, pulling the warm covers up over her. She didn’t even stir.  
  
After making sure Eddie stayed asleep despite being moved, Jamie set an alarm on his phone to wake her every three hours and give her medication every four, just as the doctor had instructed. And then, he fought sleep for hours, afraid he wouldn’t hear his alarm or Eddie if she yelled for help.  
  
Finally, though, around 6am, after hours of waking Eddie up and asking her questions and fighting sleep, Jamie fell into a deep sleep himself, even if only for a little while.  
  
****

* * *

  
It was around 10:15 when Eddie came into the kitchen for breakfast the next morning. She had thrown her hair back into a messy ponytail, revealing the bruises on her neck that Jamie somehow hadn’t noticed. Before she could catch him staring, he focused on her face and gave her a smile. “Good morning.”  
  
She gave him a smile back, one that actually reached her eyes, and Jamie couldn’t help but think how much he’d missed that smile that he’d always found so infectious. “What’s for breakfast?” she asked, scratching her neck and gesturing towards the stove Jamie was standing in front of.  
  
“I’m making scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, but if you don’t want any of that, I can go out and get you something or there’s yogurt in the fridge,” he informed her, moving the eggs around in the pan.  
  
“I’ll have what you’re having,” Eddie said with a smile, looking around the kitchen. “Is there coffee?”  
  
“Right over there.” Jamie gestured to the coffee pot over by the sink and handed her a coffee cup from the cabinet.  
  
They stood there in silence for a bit, Eddie sipping her coffee and Jamie cooking. When breakfast was ready, they ate without talking, Eddie shoving food in her mouth like it was going out of style and rolling her eyes whenever she caught him watching her eat.  
  
Eddie looked at the clock above the stove and her eyebrows furrowed. “Aren’t you going to be late for work?” she asked, staring at him over the rim of her coffee cup.  
  
Jamie shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee. “I banged in sick,” he said simply, shrugging as though it was no big deal.  
  
Anger flashed across Eddie’s face. _Here we go,_ Jamie thought. “Dammit, Jamie. I don’t need a babysitter. And I don’t want you to use sick days because of me.” Eddie’s jaw was set. She looked beyond pissed off.  
  
“Eddie, Dr. Coleman stressed that you would need somebody with you for the first few days after being released,” Jamie explained in an attempt to reason with her. “What if you pass out when I’m not here? What if you fall and hit your head?”  
  
Eddie seemed to think about that for a moment. “Admit it, Jamie. You’re afraid that Brian might come back and I won’t be able to defend myself.”  
  
Jamie fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Eddie, your wrist is cracked, you have a traumatic brain injury, and you don’t have your gun,” he pointed out, knowing it would piss her off and not giving a damn. Normally, he hated it when she was angry, whether at him or somebody else, but in this situation, she needed to face the truth.  
  
Eddie was silent for a few minutes, shoving the remainder of her scrambled eggs into her mouth and downing the rest of her coffee. She looked seething mad. After she was done with her food, she shoved her chair back violently from the table and washed her plate off before refilling her coffee cup.  
  
“I’m only okay with you calling in sick for me on one condition,” Eddie said, breaking the silence.  
  
_Oh, great,_ Jamie thought. “And what’s that?”  
  
“I want to get out and do something today,” Eddie stated matter-of-factly, her hands on her hips.  
  
Jamie chewed the inside of his cheek, contemplating. “Like what?” he asked, wondering what she could possibly have in mind.  
  
“Anything,” Eddie said, throwing her hands up. “I would be just fine with taking a walk around the block. If I can’t go to work, I at least want to get out of the apartment.”  
  
“Eddie, it’s 31 degrees outside, windy and there’s no sun. It’s miserable out,” he informed her. “Plus, Dr. Coleman said you can’t be up running around. You need to take it easy.”  
  
“Dammit, Jamie,” Eddie huffed. “I’m going with or without you. So are you in or not?”  
  
“Jesus Christ,” Jamie mumbled, shaking his head. _She’s so damn frustrating._ “Fine. But only around the block, and you have to promise to tell me if you have a hard time breathing. Your lung collapsed, remember?”  
  
Eddie rolled her eyes and cracked a tiny smile. “Jamie, I’ll be fine. And yes, I promise to tell you if I have trouble breathing,” she assured him.  
  
After bundling themselves up as much as they could, Jamie and Eddie headed out. There _was_ a small amount of sun starting to creep out, but it was still frigid cold. Jamie frantically blew into his hands in an attempt to warm them, and Eddie shot him an amused smile. “What?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
“Men are such babies about cold,” she responded, shaking her head. “It’s hilarious.”  
  
“Hey, don’t judge, Janko,” Jamie said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he tried to act seriously offended. Smiling, Eddie surprised Jamie by wrapping her hand around his upper arm, walking perfectly in sync with him.  
  
They walked in silence as Jamie looked down at her, unable to stop himself from thinking about how beautiful she looked. The cold had turned her nose and cheeks red, and she was smiling an unbelievably genuine smile.  
  
He also couldn’t help thinking he was happier than he’d been in a while and that, whether it was appropriate or not, Eddie was undoubtedly responsible for that.  
  
Maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay.  
  
  
****

* * *

**  
Brian**

_December 10_ _th_  
  
_I saw her today, with that son of a bitch partner of hers. She was too busy smiling at him to see me. Eddie looked as beautiful as ever. She thought that because she left her apartment that I couldn’t find her. She was wrong… So very wrong._  
  
_Really, I can make my move whenever I want. I know where she’s staying. I know who she’s with. I know where she works. And Jamie can’t watch over her forever. Soon, he will have to return to work, and she will be alone. I will plant something in his apartment to watch their every move, and I will close in on them slowly but surely. I just want to enjoy the chase and feel the thrill of knowing that I can get to her whenever I want._  
  
_Let the fun begin._

 


	6. Shelter

**Chapter Six  
  
Eddie  
  
** When Eddie and Jamie returned from their walk, Danny and Baez were waiting for them outside Jamie’s apartment door. Eddie’s stomach dropped. “What’s going on?” she asked, seeing the solemn expressions both detectives had.  
  
Danny and Baez exchanged a look and Jamie and Eddie exchanged one in turn. “Do you mind if we come in?” Danny asked, nodding to Jamie.  
  
“Not at all,” Jamie said nonchalantly, but Eddie could see the worry in his eyes. She was sure they were thinking the same thing: had they found Brian or did they have to face another night worrying about whether or not he was closing in on them?  
  
“How you feelin’, Janko?” Danny asked once they were all inside the apartment, the door locked behind them.  
  
“I’m better physically. He’s affecting me mentally still, which I hate,” Eddie said with a shrug, wishing they could just cut to the chase. So she decided to give them a little nudge. “Did you find anything?”  
  
The detectives exchanged another look, one Eddie couldn’t quite translate. Beside her, Jamie was fidgeting, wringing his hands in his lap. Finally, it was Baez who spoke. “The phone that sent you that text was a burner phone, a pre-paid, which wasn’t ideal. The account owner is somebody named Andrew Thomas Kirk. Does that sound familiar?”  
  
Eddie thought on it for a minute, chewing her lip, turning the name over and over in her mind until, finally, it hit her. “Drew Kirk. He went by Drew. He was roommates with Brian in college and hung around sometimes while we were dating. I never liked him.”  
  
“Any reason in particular why you didn’t like him?” Danny asked, pen poised over his notepad again.  
  
Eddie wracked her brain, thinking of all the times Drew had hung around their apartment, leering at her. “He would hang around our apartment sometimes, staring at me. He even made a pass at me once, and Brian told him he would kill him if he ever did it again.” Eddie shivered, huddling deeper into the jacket she hadn’t yet taken off. She could still see the look on Brian’s face as he threatened Drew like he had threatened her so many times at that point in their relationship. She knew he really _would_ kill him; she knew that better than anybody in the world.  
  
As Danny and Baez took down details on their notepads, Jamie and Eddie exchanged a look of their own, and Jamie surprised her by reaching over and squeezing her knee comfortingly while studying her face. When Danny spoke, their gaze was broken but Jamie didn’t move his hand. Danny’s eyes went to it, but he didn’t comment on it, instead saying, “So you would recognize him if you saw him?”  
  
“Probably. I hope so. It’s been years since I saw him last, but I’ll try,” Eddie promised, smiling even through the crippling fear that she may not be able to identify him.  
  
“That’s all we can ask for, Eddie,” Baez said, giving Eddie an encouraging smile. “Just do your best and if you don’t recognize him, we’ll nail Brian another way.”  
  
The four of them sat there in silence until Danny finally pulled up a picture on his cell phone and handed the phone to Eddie. “Is that him? Is that Andrew Kirk?” Danny asked, his voice sounding hopeful.  
  
The man in the picture was a much older-looking version of the one who had leered at Eddie all those nights, but it was definitely him. She knew by the dimple in his chin, the scar by his left eye and his shaggy brown hair that it was him. “That’s definitely him,” Eddie said, smiling at the small progress that had just been made.  
  
Danny and Baez both smiled, and when Eddie looked over at Jamie, she saw that he was smiling, too. Danny typed something on his phone and wrote something down quickly on his notepad. “We just have a few more questions about the night Brian attacked you. I know you talked to Baez in private about it, but now _I_ need to hear it from you.”  
  
“Okay,” Eddie said hesitantly.  
  
“Just tell me how it all went down,” Danny asked, ready to write whatever she said down.  
  
Eddie took a deep breath, replaying what she _did_ remember in her head, memories she had tried so hard to block out. “When I got home from work on Wednesday night, everything seemed okay at first. But then I realized that some of my stuff had been moved. I was taking my coat off and hanging it up when Brian came up behind me, covered my mouth with his hand and said he would kill me if I screamed. That’s when I was thrown to the ground, so hard I heard my head crack against the tile in the kitchen. That was where he ripped my clothes off and… you know.”  
  
Eddie sniffled, tears stinging her eyes. Jamie squeezed her knee gently, silently telling her that she was okay. When she continued, her voice was wavering. “He stayed with me all night and into Thursday morning. He raped me, and he groped me, and the more I fought, the worse he hurt me. He hit me with his belt. He kicked me in the stomach, in my sides, and even once in my head. Finally, at around 8:00 Thursday morning, he heard one of the neighbors outside my apartment door, panicked and hauled ass out the window. And that’s it.”  
  
It was only after she was done speaking that Eddie realized there were tears streaming down her cheeks, which she swiped away with the back of her hand. “Thanks, Janko,” Danny said, giving her a reassuring smile. Baez looked like she might cry. “You’re very brave.”  
  
Eddie nodded, another tear escaping her eye. “Thank you both,” she said as Danny and Baez both stood, tucking their notepads under their arms.  
  
Both detectives nodded as Jamie and Eddie stood and escorted them to the door. “We’ll be going to speak with Andrew or Drew or whoever the hell he is immediately. Hopefully, if he didn’t send that text, he can tell us who did.”  
  
Jamie and Eddie both thanked them and the detectives left, with Danny throwing a quick “Hang in there, kid,” over his shoulder. Jamie locked the door tight behind them, and Jamie and Eddie were alone once again.

* * *

**Jamie**  
  
Eddie and Jamie both breathed a sigh of relief after Danny and Baez were gone, but as Jamie was slipping out of his coat, he caught Eddie rubbing her wrist, her face pinched up in pain as she slid out of her own coat and plopped down on the couch. “Does your wrist hurt?” he asked, watching as she cradled it close to her.  
  
Eddie didn’t even bother trying to to laugh it off, which said something in and of itself. “It does, actually. It hurts like hell.” Jamie said nothing and left the room for a couple minutes, going to the medicine cabinet and returning with two pills and water in his outstretched hands. She took them and he plopped down beside her. “You don’t have to take care of me, you know. I can take care of myself,” she informed him.  
  
To her annoyance, Jamie smiled amusingly at her. “I don’t mind, Eddie,” he assured her, shaking his head. “If I did, you wouldn’t be here. And I know you can take care of yourself.” He shrugged nonchalantly and reached for the remote, flicking the TV on and, settling on a Gilmore Girls marathon that was airing.  
  
“Gilmore Girls? Really?” Eddie said with a laugh. Now it was her turn to shake _her_ head.  
  
Jamie feigned anger and crossed his arms, pretending to pout. “Lorelai is hot,” he insisted, gesturing towards the TV. A beautiful smile lit up Eddie’s face at his comment, and she looked carefree for a few seconds. But then, as a silence settled between them, with only the noise of Lorelei’s fast talking, she didn’t look so carefree anymore.  
  
They were completely silent for a few minutes, just watching TV but not really watching. He could tell that both of their minds were elsewhere. Finally, it was Eddie who broke the silence. “He wasn’t always like this.”  
  
Her words were quiet, and Jamie could barely hear her. “What?” he asked, turning the TV off completely.  
  
Chewing her bottom lip, Jamie could tell Eddie was choosing her words carefully. “Brian… He wasn’t always like this. When we first started dating, he was great. Normal. We had fun together.” Eddie looked sad as she spoke. Jamie fought the urge to take her into his arms.  
  
“Where did you two meet?” Jamie asked, genuinely curious to know more about that part of Eddie’s life.  
  
Eddie stared off into the distance, a sad smile on her face, as if she were reliving the moment she met Brian in her head. “We met at a concert in Manhattan. He hit on me, and asked me out on a date. He was such a gentleman for the first couple months we were dating.”  
  
“But then he changed?” Jamie prompted.  
  
Eddie nodded in confirmation. “Yep. He started trying to dictate what I wore and who I hung out with and where I went. He found out I went out with a friend from high school without him knowing and put me in the hospital for two days.”  
  
“Did you report it?”  
  
“No. I know I should have. But he threatened my life.” Eddie dropped her head in shame, picking at her nails.  
  
“How long were you with him?” Jamie carefully assessed Eddie’s facial expression when she lifted her head again. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m just curious,” he added.  
  
“I know. I don’t mind.” Eddie gave him a reassuring smile. “We were together for almost four years. It took over three years of beatings and threats for me to finally leave him. I moved out that same day and went to a shelter until I could move into the apartment I’m in now.”  
  
“But he found you again?”  
  
Tears filled Eddie’s eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she replayed . “Yeah, he found me again,” she said, nodding her head. She looked defeated. “I thought I had _finally_ gotten away from him… I thought I was finally safe. But I was wrong. Now I feel like there is no safe place.” She backhanded the tears away, but more fell.

Jamie eyed her sympathetically, unsure of what to do to comfort her, unsure if he even _should_ comfort her. But in typical Jamie fashion, he did anyway. “Eddie, we’re gonna get him. Until we do, you’re safe here. I promise.” He gave her a reassuring smile and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.  
  
Eddie surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck, and his arms went around her immediately. He just sat there for a minute with her in his arms, rubbing her back as she sniffled. When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. “I can’t thank you enough, Jamie,” she said, one hand still on his arm, her fingers digging into his bicep. “I know I’m a pain in the ass and I give you hell all the time, but I honestly don’t know what I would do without you.”  
  
Jamie gave her a shy smile. “I don’t know what I would do without you either,” he told her, and meant it.  
****

* * *

**Eddie  
  
** Jamie and Eddie hung out at the apartment all day, with Eddie even taking a little catnap while Jamie watched a basketball game. He woke her up for her pain medicine and they ordered in Chinese, plopping down on the couch to eat. Eddie inhaled hers, and Jamie laughed as she did so.  
  
After dinner, Jamie flipped over to a sitcom, and Eddie fell asleep after about ten minutes, her legs tucked underneath her. When she awoke, it was 7:00, and it was Jamie’s phone ringing that had pulled her from sleep. “Danny?” Jamie answered, immediately switching it to speakerphone. “Well? Did you find anything?”  
  
“ _It depends on your definition of anything. We found Drew._ ”  
  
Eddie felt a surge of happiness rush through her. “So did you interview him yet?” Jamie asked eagerly, giving her a triumphant smile.  
  
“ _We did, right after we left your apartment, Jamie. The phone wasn’t found in his apartment. He was creepy, but he has no record. Apparently, he let Brian put the phone under his name. He said Brian was the one using it, and that Brian had threatened to kill him if he spoke to police.”  
  
_ Eddie’s eyebrows furrowed. “Yet he talked to you anyway?” she asked, confused and thinking that Drew was a bigger dumbass than she thought.  
  
Danny chuckled at the other end of the line. “ _Pretty much._ ”  
  
“There’s more, isn’t there?” Jamie asked, his expression grim.  
  
“ _Yeah, kid, there is. Drew was found dead three hours after we spoke with him. He was stabbed multiple times. He died of exsanguination._ ”  
  
At Danny’s words, Eddie’s stomach dropped, and she felt her eyes stinging with tears. “He killed him,” she mumbled, just loud enough for Danny to hear.  
  
“ _We don’t know for sure, but it looks that way,_ ” Danny said, sounding as defeated as Eddie felt. “ _I’m so sorry, Janko._ ”  
  
“Thank you,” Eddie just managed to choke out before tears blurred her vision and a lump clogged her throat.  
  
Jamie thanked Danny, too, and they hung up. Tears were streaming down Eddie’s face unchecked, and when she looked at Jamie, he looked like he might throw up. “He killed him, Jamie. I _know_ it,” Eddie cried. Before Jamie could say anything, Eddie slapped a hand over her mouth and bolted past him to the bathroom, Jamie right on her heels.  
  
Jamie kneeled down beside her on the floor as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. He gathered her ponytail into one of his hands and rubbed her back with the other.  
  
“You don’t have to—” Eddie was about to tell him he didn’t have to be in there with her, but her sentence was cut off by more retching.  
  
“Shhh…” Jamie soothed, rubbing circles between her shoulder blades. When she was finally done, she felt drained, as though she had just run a marathon.  
  
Jamie hooked his hands under her arms and helped her up off the floor. As she stood, her vision began to gray around the edges, and she grabbed onto Jamie for dear life. He quickly helped her to the couch and crouched down beside her. “You okay?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.  
  
Eddie nodded. “I’m okay. Just a little lightheaded. And I feel so drained,” she mumbled. “I feel like I haven’t slept in weeks.” _Technically, I haven’t,_ she thought, remembering all those nights in the past few weeks after Brian had first contacted her when she would lay awake, listening for a window creaking open or the front door locks being broken.  
  
Jamie nodded in understanding, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Do you want to sleep here?” he asked, gesturing to the couch and sitting down beside her.  
  
Eddie nodded. “I don’t want to be alone,” she said, maneuvering her body so that she was laying down with her head on Jamie’s knee. She pulled the hair band from her hair, letting her blonde locks loose, and as though it were reflex, Jamie’s fingers began threading through them comfortingly.  
  
Feeling safer than she’d felt in months, Eddie was sound asleep within minutes.

* * *

**Jamie  
  
** Eddie’s sleep that night had not been nightmare-free. She had woken up numerous times crying, so Jamie was shocked when she was awake by 9:30 the next morning.  
  
“I’m going to see a shrink,” she declared matter-of-factly at breakfast, shoveling cereal into her mouth so quickly that Jamie was afraid she would choke.  
  
He nearly choked on his own food at her statement. “You are?” he asked, trying to keep the complete and utter shock out of his voice. Eddie had always been one to just suffer in silence, so her saying she was going to see a shrink _did_ completely and utterly shock him.  
  
“Don’t sound so surprised,” she grumbled, taking a sip of her scalding hot coffee. “Her name is Iris Ackerman.”  
  
_“Iris?_ ” Jamie sputtered. The name didn’t exactly roll off the tongue.  
  
“Yes, Iris,” Eddie said with a chuckle. “I already made an appointment for tomorrow morning.”  
  
“Alright. I’ll take you,” Jamie offered, knowing she would probably argue but also knowing that she really had no other choice since she couldn’t drive yet.  
  
Eddie mumbled something under her breath but didn’t argue, instead just carried her bowl to the sink and washed it out along with her coffee cup. Before he could say anything else, Eddie said, “Can I go take a shower now?”  
  
“Eddie, you don’t have to ask,” he reminded her, suppressing a smile. “Just please be careful, and if you feel lightheaded, sit down and yell for help.” His facial expression and tone were stern now.  
  
“Okay, okay. Worry wart,” Eddie grumbled, strutting past him, trying her damnedest not to smile. In turn, she left Jamie standing there, smiling like an idiot.  
  
Just after Eddie turned the water on, her cell phone pinged. Jamie immediately peered at the screen and saw that it was a picture message. It was from that same number, the burner that had texted her before. Jamie opened the picture, and bile crept up his throat when he realized that he was looking at a picture of Andrew Kirk’s dead body. The message that was sent with the picture read:  
  
_Watch out or you’ll end up like Drew._

* * *

**Brian  
  
**_December 11_ _th_  
  
_Drew is taken care of. That stupid bastard used to be one of my best friends. But I warned him what would happen if he called or talked to the police, and what did he do? He spoke to those detectives and ratted me out. I warned him and he didn’t listen._  
  
_I sent Eddie a little reminder that I’m capable of anything, a reminder that I’m only a breath away and I won’t hesitate to take out everybody around her if I have to. I’m sure she’ll go running to Detective Reagan and Detective Baez, but they won’t be able to find me. I do have a feeling that I’ll have to step up my game, though, to show her and her partner (who I just found out is Detective Reagan’s brother) that I’m not fucking around._

_It’s only a matter of time before they’ll find out what I’m really capable of._

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**  
  
**Eddie**  
  
When Eddie got out of the shower, Jamie was pacing the floor, stopping her dead in her tracks.  
  
“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately, her eyes narrowing and her heart thrumming wildly in her chest.  
  
When Jamie turned to face her, she realized he was holding her cell phone in his hands, grasping it so hard his knuckles were white. Before she could say anything, Jamie spoke, his voice not matching the panicked expression on his face. “Eddie, I need you to sit down.” His tone was soft and comforting, while his face was the polar opposite.  
  
“Jamie, you’re scaring me. What happened?” she said, sitting down on the couch and eyeing the phone in his hand.  
  
Jamie quickly took a seat beside her. “Don’t be mad, but your phone went off while you were in the shower and I was afraid it was Brian, so… I picked it up.” Jamie waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t, he continued. “It was Brian. From a different number this time, but…” He trailed off, closing his eyes and shaking his head, as if trying to rid his brain of some horrible memory.  
  
Jamie turned Eddie’s phone over in his hand and unlocked it, passing it to her. The minute she turned it over and looked at the screen, she wished she could rid herself of the memory. It was a picture of a man, laying sideways, duct tape over his mouth. His eyes were staring straight up, lifeless, unseeing. It wasn’t until Eddie zoomed in that she realized who it was.  
  
“Drew?” Eddie sputtered, a wave of nausea hitting her. She doubled over at the waist and her phone fell to the floor. Trying to keep from vomiting, Eddie put her head between her knees and breathed deep.  
  
Jamie was silent while Eddie tried to recover, reaching over to rub her back gently every once in a while. Finally, when she was sure she wouldn’t throw up, she sat upright and looked at Jamie, who looked like he might throw up. “Have you called Danny?” she asked him, her voice wavering.  
  
Jamie nodded, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Him and Baez will be here soon. We’re getting TARU on it immediately.”  
  
Eddie’s eyes stung with tears and they fell before she could wipe them away. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. “I don’t feel safe anywhere anymore,” she said sadly, swiping the tears off her cheeks.  
  
“You’re safe here, Eddie. I promise you,” Jamie assured her. “And we’re going to catch the son of a bitch. Danny and Baez will make sure of it.”  
  
Then, as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Eddie jumped a mile, and Jamie noticed. She hated that Brian had made her so skittish and nervous and scared of everything, and she knew Jamie hated it, too.  
  
After peeking through the peephole, Jamie opened the door and in came Danny and Baez, both looking worried. When Eddie stood, a wave of dizziness hit her and she wobbled on her feet, sending both Danny and Jamie racing to her side. “Eddie, you okay?” Jamie asked, leading her back to sit down on the couch. Danny was staring at her like she was about to fall apart, and depending on the news she received, maybe she was.  
  
“I’m fine,” Eddie assured them, putting her hand up. “Did you guys get anything?”  
  
Danny and Baez both said down across from the couch, and Jamie sat down next to Eddie. All three people were still looking at her with concern apparent in their faces. It was Danny who spoke. “TARU has the cell phone number that Jamie sent us and is working on tracking it now. If it’s another burner phone, there may be a way to track it still. They’re bringing out the big guns on this one.”  
  
Eddie nodded, feeling slightly hopeful and, honestly, a little lightheaded. “Did you find anything else out?” Jamie asked from beside her.  
  
Danny nodded, pressing his lips into a thin line. Then, he turned to look directly at Eddie. “Janko, TARU went through your apartment with a fine-tooth comb. They found not one but two cameras planted in your apartment. They’ve taken them to analyze where they were bought.”  
  
“So… He’s been watching me this whole time?” Eddie asked in disbelief, a lump clogging her throat.  
  
“It looks that way, yeah.”  
  
All of the air left Eddie’s lungs in a whoosh and a wave of nausea hit her so hard that she shot off the couch and bolted to the bathroom, emptying her stomach contents into the toilet once again. She heard heavy footfalls and before she knew it, Jamie was on his knees beside her once again, her slightly damp hair in his hands.  
  
“It’s okay,” he whispered, picking up on the fact that there were tears streaming down her cheeks.  
  
When she was finally done, Eddie’s face was covered in a mix of tears and sweat, her stomach still churning. “Eddie, do you think this vomiting is from stress? Or do you think it’s from your head injury?” Jamie asked in a low voice, helping her up off the floor.  
  
Eddie shrugged and washed her mouth out in the sink. The taste of vomit was about to make her puke again. She bit her lip, afraid to tell Jamie the truth. “Honestly, I’ve been nauseous all morning,” she concluded. Before Jamie could respond, she was speaking again. “We should get back to Danny and Baez.” And with that, Eddie slid past him, returning to the living room, and Jamie was hot on her heels. Eddie figured he was probably pissed.  
  
“Are you alright, Janko?” Baez asked, both detectives eyeing Eddie closely as she walked to the kitchen and got a bottle of water before returning to the couch. She turned to see that Jamie was watching her closely, too.  
  
“I’m fine,” she assured them, taking a long swig of her water. “This head injury is a bitch, but I’m doing okay.”  
  
“Good,” the detectives said in unison, but honestly, they didn’t look so convinced.  
  
“Anyway, there will be two officers outside your apartment building until we catch this son of a bitch,” Danny stated in a tone that made it clear that he was not to be argued with. “And TARU is going to be setting you up with another panic button and God only knows what else.”  
  
“Great,” Jamie grumbled, scrubbing a hand over his face again.  
  
“When are you goin’ back to work?” Danny asked Jamie.  
  
“I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know when I do, though.” Eddie could tell that Jamie was trying not to discuss going back to work in front of her since he knew she was dying to go back herself. “Please keep us up to date with all the TARU stuff.”

“Alright, kid.” Danny gave a slightly amused smile and both detectives stood. Eddie and Jamie thanked them both and Jamie walked them to the door. “One more thing, guys. Please take this seriously. This could be life or death for either one of you,” Danny reminded them before walking out into the cold hallway, Baez following closely behind him.  
  
Jamie locked the door up tight behind them and immediately turned to Eddie. “Janko, why the hell didn’t you tell me you’ve felt sick all morning?” Before she even had a chance to answer, to explain, he kept going. “I’m supposed to be looking out for you and making sure you’re okay. You’re my partner and my best friend, and it’s kind of my job. So please make it a little easier on me.” To Eddie’s relief, there was no anger in Jamie’s tone, only concern.  
  
Eddie shrugged, staring down at the floor. “I don’t know. Especially after you showed me that text... I just didn’t want to make a big thing out of it.”  
  
“Eddie, it is a big thing,” Jamie said, nudging Eddie’s arm. Eddie was relieved when he changed the subject. “Do you need me to do the dressings on your back?”  
  
Eddie nodded, realizing she had forgotten all about them. “If you don’t mind,” she said softly, suddenly feeling shy, even though she knew there was no way she could do it herself. She tucked a wet strand of hair behind her ear and looked up from underneath long lashes at Jamie, who was studying her face.  
  
“I don’t mind, Eddie,” Jamie replied, disappearing from the room and reappearing with the bag that contained gauze, bandages and ointment from the hospital. Without warning, Eddie felt Jamie’s fingers running up and down the wounds on her back, covering them in ointment. Eddie couldn’t help but hiss in pain. “You alright?” Jamie asked her.  
  
“Uh-huh,” Eddie muttered, biting her lip to keep from crying out. The coolness of Jamie’s fingers helped, though, and left her skin tingling in their wake.  
  
After putting ointment and bandages on Eddie’s back, Jamie lowered her t-shirt and turned Eddie to face him, studying the gash on her forehead. He gently brushed alcohol over it and laid a huge bandage down, his fingers brushing her skin gently as he smoothed the bandage and made sure the edges were secure. Eddie watched him study her face for an extra few seconds before re-packing what she had nicknamed the “bandage bag”.  
  
She was glad he missed the goofy smile that crossed her face.

* * *

**Jamie**  
  
After changing Eddie’s dressings, Jamie convinced her to eat a few bites of yogurt, which she vomited up almost immediately. She couldn’t even keep water down. Jamie suggested she lie down for a bit in the guest bedroom, and to his shock, she didn’t argue with him. He was scared to give her a dose of her pain medicine without something on her stomach, so he gave her the anti-inflammatory that Dr. Coleman had prescribed instead.  
  
After helping Eddie into bed, Jamie stayed with her for a bit, at her request. As much as he hated that she was so scared still, it made him feel good that she knew she was safe with him. After she was finally asleep, Jamie stepped out into the hallway, leaving Eddie’s door open a crack, and dialed the number Dr. Coleman had given him. She answered on the second ring. “This is Dr. Coleman.”  
  
“Hi, Dr. Coleman, it’s Jamie. Jamie Reagan. I was in there with my partner, Eddie Janko a couple days ago?”  
  
“Hi, Jamie. How is Eddie doing?” Dr. Coleman asked. Jamie could hear the sound of a PA system in the background and knew Dr. Coleman must have been at the hospital. Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered her at work, he thought.  
  
“I’m sorry to bother you,” he apologized. “Honestly, I’m not sure how Eddie’s doing. She lost consciousness that one time, but what I’m worried about right now is the nausea. She’s been nauseous all day, and she can’t even keep water down at this point.” Jamie quickly poked his head into the guest room, relieved to see that Eddie was still sound asleep, before heading to the living room so as not to wake her.  
  
“Hmm,” Dr. Coleman muttered, sounding concerned or focused or something Jamie couldn’t quite identify. “Jamie, is Eddie available for me to speak to?”  
  
“She’s asleep. Do you need me to wake her up?”  
  
“No, no,” Dr. Coleman responded. “Don’t wake her. Has she acted confused or disoriented at all?”  
  
Jamie thought about it for a moment before responding. “Not that I can recall. She has nightmares all the time, but I know that’s normal.”  
  
“Unfortunately, you’re right,” the doctor confirmed with a sigh. “It’s very normal, in fact. Alright, what I’m going to suggest is that when she wakes up, if she’s still vomiting, go ahead and bring her to the ER. They can give her IV fluids, keep her hydrated, and hopefully stop that vomiting. And they’ll do a scan of her head to make sure there’s no brain bleed that has come on suddenly and things like that.”  
  
Brain bleed? Jamie’s blood pressure rose immediately at the words “brain bleed”. From the moment Eddie was diagnosed with a TBI, Jamie had known that a brain bleed was highly possible, but hearing Dr. Coleman say it now still caught him a bit off guard. “Okay. I’ll do that. Thank you, Doctor,” Jamie said, sounding a bit like he may faint.  
  
“My pleasure. Call me if you have any more questions, or call the ER.” And with that, they hung up, and Jamie was alone with his thoughts once again.  
  
But he wasn’t alone with his thoughts for long. Realizing it was getting fairly late, Jamie dialed Danny’s number. “Reagan,” Danny answered, sounding out of breath.  
  
“Has TARU found anything yet? About the cell phone?” Jamie asked, anxious and all sorts of scared.  
  
He expected Danny to tell him to quit bothering him and that he would call when he had something, but that wasn’t what he got. “Actually, I was just about to call you. First off, TARU found yet another camera in Eddie’s apartment. It was in her bathroom. That son of a bitch was watching her shower and God only knows what else. Second, they’re going to equip both your apartment and Eddie’s with an alarm system, window sensors, and a panic button. Third—”  
  
Jamie cut him off as he was about to go on. “There’s more?”  
  
“Yeah, kid, there is,” Danny said, his irritation at being interrupted apparent in his voice. “Third, TARU found where the burners were being bought, but it gets better. Brian apparently placed a call from the same phone that sent Eddie that text this morning, and they were able to triangulate the location he was in when the call from that phone was made. He was smart enough to make the call from a public location, but guess what? He messed up. We caught him on a traffic camera making the call at the corner of 55 th and 5th, where he then dumped the phone.”  
  
“Do we know who it was he called?” Jamie was trying his hardest not to get his hopes up, and he would certainly try not to get Eddie’s up.  
  
“Not yet,” Danny said, “but we’re about to. Baez and I are headed over there now. Kid, pray the asshole didn’t wipe the phone before he tossed it.”  
  
“Alright. I’ll fill Eddie in when she wakes up,” Jamie assured, thanking Danny before hanging up and getting to his feet to check on his partner. When he got to the guest room door and poked his head in, he was surprised to see Eddie sitting up on the edge of the bed but bent at the waist, her head between her knees. He ran to her immediately, crouching down in front of her. “Eddie, what’s wrong?”  
  
When Eddie lifted her head to look at him, Jamie was shocked by her pallor and the fact that her face was covered in a light sheen of sweat. He put his hand to her forehead and found that she was burning up. “My head is killing me and I feel...” Before she could finish her sentence, Eddie wobbled to her feet and bolted to the bathroom, once again throwing up until she was dry heaving. Jamie took his spot beside her on the floor and held her hair back, stroking her neck with his cool fingers.  
  
When she was done, the first words out of Jamie’s mouth were, “I’m taking you to the ER, Eddie.” To his shock, she just slumped against him and nodded in agreement, further proving that something was incredibly wrong. He pulled her to her feet, and he could see her knees shaking. “Can you walk?” Instead of answering, she took a few shaky steps and Jamie caught her before she went down. He tilted her head back, relieved to see she was still conscious, and scooped her up in his arms.  
  
After carrying Eddie to the living room and putting her on the couch, where she stayed without protest, Jamie grabbed Eddie’s bag that had some of her clothes still in it. It was below freezing outside, so he wrapped her in one of his sweatshirts, zipped it up as far as it would go, and carried her out to his car, locking the apartment door tightly behind him.   
  
On the way to St. Vic’s, Jamie kept Eddie talking and prayed she would stay conscious. Thankfully, she did, and she was still conscious when he carried her through the ER doors. They were back in a room almost immediately after being checked in, and Jamie was relieved when the nurse who walked in was Linda.  
  
“I saw Eddie’s name on the chart. What’s been going on?” Linda asked them both, but it was Jamie who answered, looking at Eddie and noting that she was nearly asleep.  
  
“Can I talk to you outside?” he asked, jabbing a thumb towards the hallway. Linda nodded, and he followed her out, closing the door behind him. “Did you hear what happened to her?”  
  
“Danny told me bits and pieces, but not much.”  
  
“On Friday night I went to her apartment and found her half naked and nearly beaten to death. An ex-boyfriend of hers raped her, beat her and left her there to die.” Jamie took a deep breath, looking down at the floor, trying not to get angry just telling the story again. “Anyway, I took her to the hospital, and she’s got broken ribs, one of which punctured her lung, a cracked wrist, and a moderate traumatic brain injury, amongst other things. They did a rape kit. They did release her but Dr. Coleman warned that she may lose consciousness, which she has, but only once. I’m sure Danny told you she’s staying with me.”  
  
“He did. What prompted you to bring her in tonight?” Linda asked, reading something on the clipboard in her hands. Jamie could tell that what he’d told Linda about what Eddie had been through had upset her. She wasn’t making eye contact with him.  
  
“She’s been vomiting off and on for the last couple days. Earlier today she laid down for a nap at my suggestion, and when I went to check on her, I found her awake and saying that her head was killing her. Before I could say anything else she ran past me to the bathroom and vomited again. I told her I was taking her to the hospital, and she didn’t argue, so here we are,” Jamie explained as Linda took notes down on Eddie’s chart. “Dr. Coleman told me that she may have a brain bleed and that I needed to bring her in immediately if she was still vomiting when she woke up.”  
  
Linda nodded, her lips pressed into a straight line, her expression grim. “Alright, Jamie. I’m going to get an IV in her and get some fluids going, and we’ll do a CT scan on her to make sure there’s no brain bleed. She’s going to be okay.” She patted her brother-in-law’s arm gently and gave him some semblance of a smile before leading them back into Eddie’s room. Eddie was awake, but barely. “Hi, Eddie. How are you feeling?” Linda asked as Jamie pulled a chair up next to Eddie’s bed and sat down, fighting the urge to take her hand.  
  
“My head hurts,” Eddie whimpered, her chin quivering.  
  
Linda rubbed a hand up and down Eddie’s arm in what looked to Jamie like a motherly gesture. “Alright, sweetie. We’ll do a scan of your head just to make sure everything looks okay and give you some fluids in an IV.” Eddie just nodded, her eyes slipping closed as tears fell down her cheeks, breaking Jamie’s heart and probably Linda’s, too.  
  
Linda left the room to get what she needed for Eddie’s IV, leaving Jamie and Eddie alone. Jamie took the opportunity to take Eddie’s hand. She wrapped her fingers around his and he squeezed them comfortingly. Eddie cracked a tiny little smile, her eyes still closed.  
  
When Linda returned, Jamie didn’t let go of Eddie’s hand, and luckily, Linda didn’t seem to notice much. She slid the needle into Eddie’s arm easily, and Eddie didn’t even flinch. After inserting the plastic tubing and pulling the needle out, Linda hooked the IV bag up and hooked Eddie up to a monitor and a blood pressure cuff on the other arm. Jamie caught Linda frowning as she looked at the blood pressure reading. “Is something wrong?” Jamie said, anxiety apparent in his voice.  
  
Linda shook her head, wiping the frown off her face. “Her blood pressure is a little low, but if she’s been vomiting, that’s completely normal. We’ll get those fluids going as well as some Reglan and get that pressure back up.” Eddie gave a weak smile as Linda patted her arm before walking out, giving Jamie a reassuring smile as well before she left.  
  
Eddie looked at Jamie, her eyes sad and tired. “I’m so ready for this all to be over.”  
  
“I know you are,” Jamie said, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “So am I.” And he was. He was ready for everything with Brian to be over and for Eddie to be healthy and for all of this to be behind her, behind them. But at this point, it didn’t look like it would be anytime soon.  
  
“I’m so tired,” Eddie mumbled, her eyes slipping closed again.  
  
“Go to sleep. I’m sure it will be a bit before they take you back for the CT scan,” Jamie said, looking at the clock on the wall and seeing that it was nearly 6:00pm.  
  
Eddie merely nodded and she drifted off with her hand still in Jamie’s.

* * *

**Eddie**  
  
Eddie was awoken around 7:30pm by Linda and another nurse she didn’t recognize, saying they were ready to take her down for the CT scan, informing Eddie that she didn’t have to drink contrast liquid and that it wouldn’t take more then thirty minutes. Jamie helped them transfer her from the bed to the wheelchair they’d brought up with them, and they wheeled her down to Radiology, making small talk along the way.  
  
The scan seemed to go fairly quickly, and when they returned to Eddie’s ER room around 7:55, Jamie was pacing. Again. Eddie’s blood went cold. She waited until she was safely back in the bed and until Linda and the other nurse left before she said anything.  
  
“Jamie? What’s wrong?” she asked, watching as he finally took a seat but started tapping his foot anxiously.  
  
“It can wait, Eddie,” he said, offering something that Eddie figured was supposed to be a reassuring smile. But it didn’t reassure her. It was taut and looked more like a grimace.  
  
“No, it can’t. Just tell me,” Eddie insisted, reaching over and grabbing Jamie’s shaking hand, not caring that it would probably look bad if Linda walked in.  
  
Jamie took a deep breath and scrubbed his free hand over his face. “Eddie…” He squeezed her hand and looked her dead in the face, and his expression was so grim that it scared the shit out of her. “While you were downstairs, Danny called me. He told me that, first off, Brian has a couple people working for him. They found record of that on the burner cell phone that Brian dumped at 55 th and 5th, which the dumbass failed to wipe before tossing it.”  
  
“And secondly?” Eddie prompted, a feeling of dread washing over her.  
  
“Secondly, New York Fire Department was sent to my apartment building ten minutes ago. Half of the building is gone.”

 


End file.
